THE  LIBRARY  OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF 

NORTH  CAROLINA 


THE  COLLECTION  OF 
NORTH  CAROLINIANA 


C971.1 

586s 

c.2 


UNIVERSITY  OF  N.C.  AT  CHAPEL  HILL 


00032761173 


This  book  is  due  on  the  last  date  stamped 
below  unless  recalled  sooner.    It  may  be 
renewed  only  once  and  must  be  brought  to 
the  North  Carolina  Collection  for  renewal. 


£ 


COL.  J.   S.  CARR. 


THE  HISTORY  OF  ALAMANCE 


A  WORK 

FOR  THE  DEGREE  OF  M.  A.  AT  THE  UNIVERSITY 

OF  NORTH   CAROLINA. 


BY 

Miss  S.  W.  Stock ard. 


9  9  W 


RALEIGH  : 

Capital  Printing  Company. 

1900. 


r 


TO 

GENERAL  JULIAN  SHAKSPERE  CARR, 

A  THANKSGIVING. 


INTRODUCTORY 


That  our  American  Republic  sprang  into  life  full  formed 
like  Pallas  from  the  head  of  Zeus  seems  miiaculous, 
but  there  is  nothing  wonderful  about  either.  Both  Eng- 
land and  Zeus,  you  know,  had  been  troubled  with  head 
pains.  The  English  Church  and  Presbyterianism  were  sig- 
nificant. Runnymede,  Magna  Charta,  the  strength  of  the 
Anglo-saxon  speech  against  the  French  and  the  Latin,  the 
Cornish  and  the  Celt,  attest  to  the  elasticity  and  might  of 
the  English  consciousness.  Every  bill  of  rights  foretold  a 
possible  America.  Moore's  Utopia  was  like  an  index  finger 
pointing  to  Columbia, 

"  The  land  of  every  land  the  pride." 

But  to  see  things  in  their  general  light  is  easier  than  to 
dissect  and  vivisect  particularly.  And  it  might  be  pleas- 
anter  to  write  a  history  of  the  Feejee  Islanders,  than  to  sit 
down  among  a  people  whose  conflicting  opinions  have  be- 
come a  matter  of  history,  and  to  try  to  tell  the  truth,  abso- 
lute, unprejudiced. 

An  account  of  the  Indians  is  given,  in  the  first  place,  for 
the  children  ;  again,  because  they  were  the  former  land- 
owners. Haw  River  took  its  name  from  them.  Alamance,* 
in  Indian  speech,  they  say,  means  all  men's  land,  a  universal 
sort  of  country  ;  and  indeed  it  well  might  be  so  named  ;  Gov- 
ernor Morehead  called  the  lovely  sloping  fields  between 
Stinking  Quarter  Creek  and  the  Big  Alamance,  his  Eden. 
An  Indian  grave-yard  has  been  found,  not  far  from  Glencoe  ; 
the  skeletons  show  them  to  have  been  buried  in  a  sitting 
position.  Their  bones  are  crumbling  back  to  dust ;  two 
hundred  years  ago  their  huzzars  rang  loud  and  clear  through 
forests  and  savannahs  ;  to-day  a  few  arrow  points,  pots  and 
skeletons  remain  to  tell  the  story  of  that  race,  so  relent- 

*  Allemance,  Alemany.    It  may  be  German. 


6  INTRODUCTORY. 

lessly  has  time  swept  them  away.  Only  their  names  enduring 
stay  to  ns.  A  thousand  years  are  but  as  yesterday  when  it 
is  past,  and  as  a  tale  that  is  told 

This  work  is  di proportionate,  necessarily  so.  Some  peo- 
ple preserve  their  family  history  while  others  do  not.  The 
Thompson  family  history  is  being  prepared  by  Mr.  Ed. 
Thompson,  hence  that  is  untouched. 

This  history  does  not  contain  the  whole  of  life  as  it  once 
was  in  Alamance,  the  drama  would  come  nearer  that  than 
history.  I  shall  perhaps  do  better  than  this  attempt  when 
fortune  smiles,  and  I  can  have  more  leisure. 

But  those,  who  dared  all  things,  whose  courage  was  invin- 
cible, who,  by  their  valiant  hope  and  endeavor,  gave  us  a 
name  and  a  home,  are  too  good  to  be  forgotten.  They 
came  from  Ireland,  England,  Scotland,  Germany,  by  way 
of  Pennsylvania  in  wagons  to  Alamance,  a  beautiful  but  a 
wild  country,  inhabited  not  bv  Amalakites  and  Jebuzites, 
but  by  treacherous  Indians.  The  vibrations  of  the  energy 
of  our  forefathers  should  still  make  us  tingle  with  desire 
to  accomplish. 

Capt.  Stockard  lives  on  the  old  homestead,  that  James 
Stockard  owned  before  the  Regulation  War.  The  land  of 
Michael  Holt,  extending  from  Greensboro  almost  to  Hills- 
boro,  still  belongs  to  his  descendants,  enough  for  the  whole 
family.  Dr.  D.  A.  Long  lives  on  the  land  he  got  by  his 
great  grandfather  from  the  Crown — "Long  Land."  Mr. 
W.  H.  Trolinger,  Mr.  J.  R.  Garret,  Mr.  Van  Montgomery, 
Mr.  Nathaniel  Woody,  etc.,  received  their  land  "  to  have 
and  to  hold  "  by  right  from  the  agents  of  King  George. 

It  is  said  that  the  purest  race  on  earth  live  in  North 
Carolina  for  these  reasons.  Her  early  settlers  came,  being 
driven  by  religious  and  political  persecutions,  to  establish 
homes.  The  energy  and  cream  of  other  nations,  denomi- 
nations and  parties  settled  this  State  between  1700 — 1776 
and  while  many  have  gone  out  to  people  the  West  there 
has  been  no  immigration  since. 


INTRODUCTORY.  7 

Our  young  people  should  know  the  price  of  their  liberty 
and  our  old  people  must  not  forget  for 

"  Good  deeds  dying  tongueless 
Slaughter  a  thousand  waiting  on  that." 

If  this  work  meets  with  approbation  in  Alamance  and 
helps  to  disseminate  a  knowledge  so  dear  to  us  all,  if  it 
could  but  be  an  incentive  to  a  more  noble  endeavor,  then, 
it  may  be,  has  been  granted  one  fond  wish  that  I  have  done 
something. 


THE  HISTORY  OF  ALAMANCE, 


CHAPTER  I. 


North  Carolina  is  as  rich  in  noble  deeds  of  daring  men  as 
Scotland.  The  knowledge  of  what  Scotchmen  endured  and 
availed  was  an  incentive  to  the  Scotch.  It  also  gave  them 
self-confidence,  less  to  fear  in  seeming  failure,  and  a  long 
look  ahead.     So  may  it  be  to  us. 

The  fact  that  the  sturdy  Scots  are  given  a  place  in  the 
shining  temple  of  fame  is  due  large'y  to  Percy's  Reliques, 
to  Burns,  and  to  Sir  Walter  Scott's  works.  They  merited 
this  high  honor.  Their  deeds  were  seeds  that  would  have 
died  in  the  embryo  but  for  these  men  who  preserved  them 
to  sow  broadcast  forever  over  the  English  speaking  world. 

A  comprehensive  history  of  North  Carolina  would  be 
invaluable.  For  the  historian  holds  the  same  relation  to 
the  mind  of  man  as  the  farmer  does  to  his  body. 

But  the  historian  is  a  man  of  the  most  liberial  culture, 
large  grasp  of  ideas,  leisure,  no  cares  for  daily  bread,  un- 
prejudiced, magnanimous.  Such  an  one  the  ravens  ought 
to  feed  and  manna  be  sent  him  from  heaven. 

History  is  a  narrative  not  having  beginning  or  end.  Un- 
written history  is  a  labyrinth,  a  jumble  of  incidents  without 
the  silver  thread  of  agumentation  or  exposition.  It  is  like 
the  beads  of  a  rotary,  unconnected,  disjointed,  broken. 
Written  history  is  fossilized  life,  a  latent  energy — stored 
strength  for  new  endeavor.  Prosperous  wise  and  happy  are 
that  people  who  have  a  noble  history  and  read  it. 

To  write  a  history  of  North  Carolina  would  be  work  for 
a  Ufetime.     To  write  historical  sketches  of  one's  county  is 


IO  THE    HISTORY    OF    ALAMANCE 

more  within  the  range  of  one  with  limited  facilities  and 
leisure. 

Alamance  was  never  a  barren  waste.  Four  hundred  years 
ago  the  red  man  revelled  here  in  luxurious  nature.  He 
could  kill  more  deer  than  could  be  eaten  on  "Stinking 
Quarter"  creek.  Not  only  did  he  succeed  in  living  like  a 
lord  but  "writ  his  name  in  water."  So  the  rivers  and  the 
springs  ripple  and  sing  to  the  music  of  the  names  he  gave 
them — Altamahaw,  Ossipee,  Saxapahaw  and  Alamance. 

Besides  the  Indian  and  far  above  him  in  might  there  have 
lived  among  us  great  men  in  the  high  noon  of  their  useful- 
ness. The  names  of  Murphy,  Ruffin,  Bingham  and  Wilson 
adorn  the  county  they  have  blessed.  Their  sun  has  set  but 
the  good  deeds  they've  done  come  out  to  shine  like  the  stars 
that  glorify  the  night. 

In  1 77 1  Chatham  and  Lord  North  were  "thundering  in 
Parliament,"  the  letters  of  "Junius"  were  attracting  general 
attention,  all  sorts  of  political  contentions  were  hurled 
against  King  George's  government,  and  far  away  across  the 
Atlantic  the  farmers  of  Orange  county,  North  Carolina, 
were  making  resistance  to  the  oppression  of  King  George's 
representatives — Governor  Tryon  and  Col.  Edmund  Fan- 
ning— at  Hillsboro  who  were  contributing  to  the  oppression 
of  American  citizens. 

There  lived  in  Southwest  Alamance  one  Herman  Hus- 
bands who  hailed  from  Philadelphia  and  is  said  to  have 
been  a  kinsman  of  Benjamin  Franklin  Charged  with  ani- 
mation but  without  that  higher  element  of  bravery,  he  ap- 
plied a  spark  to  the  fuse  that  flamed  into  the  conflagration 
that  burnt  up  the  system  of  English  domination. 

Husbands  lived  among  men  driven  from  home  by  civic 
and  religious  persecutions.  Having  prevailed  over  man  and 
nature  their  spirit  of  freedom  was  epidemic.  No  wonder 
that  he  found  it  an  easy  task  to  organize  such  men  into  the 
famous  "  Regulators."  These  were  to  help  each  other  in 
all  trouble  growing  out  of  a  refusal  to  pay  the  unlawful 
demands  of  the  Rulers. 


THE    HISTORY    OF    ALAMANCE.  II 

On  May  16,  1771  Governor  Tryon  met  about  two  thou- 
sand Regulators  on  the  plains  of  Alamance.  Then  was  the 
first  blood  shed  for  freedom  on  American  soil  ;  that  was  the 
first  open  resistance  against  the  oppression  of  King  George's 
rule.  The  battle  of  Alamance,  N.  C,  and  not  the  battle  of 
Lexington,  Mass.,  was  the  beginning  of  the  Revolutionary 
war.  It  was  a  fight  against  the  primal  cause  of  the  war  for 
American  Independence. 

It  is  interesting  to  know  the  names  of  some  of  the  people 
who  lived  here  then.  By  tradition  we  know  who  made 
opposition  to  tyranny.  In  some  cases  the  old  spelling  shows 
the  nationality.  On  the  west  side  of  Haw  river,  or  Saxa- 
pahaw  river,  which  runs  length-wise  of  the  county  from 
north  to  south  were  the  Houltz,  the  Strolingers,  the  Longs, 
the  Stockards,  the  Trowsdales,  the  Freelands,  the  Albrights, 
the  Shavers  or  Shepherds,  the  Whitesides  now  Whitsetts, 
the  Thompsons,  the  Newlins,  the  Grimes  now  Grahams 
here,  but  not  changed  in  other  parts  the  Isleys,  the  Sharpes 
and  the  Hornadays.  The  people  on  the  east  side  of  the 
river  were  Binghams,  Mebanes,  Whites,  Glasses,  Dixons, 
Dishongs,  Griffises  and  Scotts 

"  Hornaday  "  has  a  bit  of  history  showing  how  some  of 
these  names  were  given.  A  ship  in  crossing  the  ocean  was 
detained  and  the  supply  of  drinking  became  low.  The 
little  fellow  who  carried  around  the  drinks  gave  each  a  horn 
a  day.  So  while  he  gave  them  drinks,  they  gave  him  a 
name  that  stuck — "  Horn-a-day."  Strolingers,  or  Trolin- 
gers,  were  those  who  strolled  around  The  Albrights  were 
noblemen  from  Albrecchtsberg — the  name  of  their  castle  in 
Germany.  The  word  Houltz  is  kin  to  the  word  Holstein, 
a  German  word  meaning  Wood-stone. 

The  first  meeting  in  North  Carolina  for  the  construction 
of_a_ railroad  was  held  in  Alamance  at  the  home  of  William 
Albright,  near  Cane  creek,  in  1828.  Dr.  Joseph  Caldwell, 
just  returned  from  Europe,  came  to  this  meeting  full  of 
railroad  ideas  from  Germany.     His  plan  was  to  build  a  road 


12  THK    HISTORY    OF     ALAMANCE. 

from  Morehead  through  the  centre  of  the  State  to  the  moun- 
tains, the  cars  to  be  drawn  by  mules.  It  is  pathetic  to 
think  that  the  section  where  this  meeting  was  held  is  still 
without  railroad. 

The  railroad,  then  was  a  bone  of  contention  between  the 
two  political  parties — the  Whigs  favoring  it  while  the  Demo- 
crats opposed.  The  Legislature  of  1848,  however,  decided 
to  build  a  road  from  Goldsboro  to  Charlotte.  Orange  then 
had  four  Representatives,  among  them  Hon.  Giles  Mebane, 
a  Whig,  and  Col.  John  Stockard,  a  Democrat.  Hon.  John 
Beny  was  Senator  from  this  district.  Hon.  Calvin  Graves, 
of  Caswell,  President  of  the  Senate,  cast  the  deciding  bal- 
lot in  favor  of  the  railroad.  As  he  was  a  Democrat,  this 
ruined  him  politically. 

The  men  in  this  section  who  favored  railroads  and  helped 
to  build  this  one  were  Hon.  Giles  Mebane,  Gen.  Trolinger 
and  a  few  others  perhaps.  It  runs  by  Haw  River  instead 
of  the  county  seat,  some  say,  because  Gen.  Trolinger  had 
property  there  and  influence  w.th  the  company  ;  others  that 
the  people  in  Graham  hated  the  railroad  and  gave  the  com- 
pany several  hundred  acres  of  land  a  few  miles  away  that 
the  shops  might  be  built  there  and  not  at  Graham.  So  the 
gods  of  the  iron  horse  smiled  on  Burlington,  and  two  towns 
that  together  would  make  a  city  with  a  vigorous  growth, 
whose  combined  efforts  would  have  enriched  the  county 
manifold  are  still  apart.  A  straw  may  change  the  current 
of  a  mighty  stream. 


CHAPTER  II 


"Alamance  is  divided  into  Huronian  and  Laurentian 
belts,  by  a  line  passing  southeast  of  Graham  diagonally, 
from  northeast  to  southwest,  across  the  county."  This  line 
begins  about  Mt.  Willing  on  the  east,  crosses  Thompson 
township,  Albright  township,  and  a  corner  of  Coble's  and 
Patterson's  each  to  Kimeville.  "  The  Laurentian  occupies 
the  northern  and  the  Huronian  the  southern  section.  The 
division  is  not  at  all  sharp  nor  is  the  line  of  division  straight, 
but  rather  like  the  sutured  markings  on  the  skull,"  says 
Mr.  Spoon. 

It  may  be  well  to  say  that  these  belts  belong  to  the  arch- 
aeon,  or  old,  age  of  the  world,  in  whose  rock  there  is 
scarcely  any  sign  of  life.  About  the  only  animal  living 
then  to  leave  his  mark  on  time  was  the  '•  White  Dawn." 
This  was  hardly  an  animal  at  all ;  but  in  the  absence  of  all 
animals  having  backbones,  this  specimen  will  do  to  count. 
The  Laurentian  is  older  than  its  sister,  the  Huronian,  but 
both  are  very  old,  if  not  the  rocks  primeval. 

Then  there  are  the  Triassic  sections — much  younger, 
almost  as  far  removed,  you  know,  as  we  from  our  kingly 
ancestors  of  Germany.  In  this  period  snakes  and  croco- 
diles were  the  potentates  of  earth,  then  reveling  in  grand 
mysteries.  Let  us  hope  their  paradise  lost  may  never  be 
regained.  A  slice  of  their  history  they  left  in  the  Major 
Hills  and  the  Stoney  Creek  Mountains — so  much  more  care- 
ful than  the  Eozoon  Canadense  were  they  to  write  on  cur- 
tains of  rocks  and  tables  of  stone  their  laws  in  hieroglyphics. 

"  Nearly  all  of  Faucette  and  Pleasant  Grove  townships 
have  a  granitic  soil,  formed  by  the  decomposition  of  a 
granite  parent  rock  which  underlies  nearly  the  whole  of 
this  section,  forming  an  immense  deposit  of  valuable  build- 
ing stone." 


14  THE    HISTORY   OF    ALAMANCE. 

"This  stone,"  says  Mr.  Spoon,  "is  equal  to,  if  not  sur- 
passing, the  Mt.  Airy  granite/' 

This  granite  is  not  much  beneath  the  surface  and  is  easy 
of  access — latent  energy,  longing  to  be  awakened  like  Sleep- 
ing Beauty  by  the  knightly  Prince  of  Labor.  Jordan 
Creek,  Quarry  Creek,  and  Dickey  Quarry  deserve  attention. 
Faucette  township  is  particularly  rich. 

Granite,  you  know,  is  composed  of  different  kinds  of 
grains  or  lumps  cemented  by  Nature's  own  process  of  hold- 
ing them  together.  Look  at  a  block  of  granite.  The  bluish 
glossy  specks  are  quartz  ;  the  opaque  white,  or  rosy  color 
are  feldspar ;  the  glistening  particles  are  mica,  and  the  black 
hornblende.  These  are  different  kinds  of  rocks,  the  horn- 
blende, darker,  heavier  and  basic,  the  opposite  of  quartz 
and  feldspar,  which  are  acidic,  and  they  are  brought  together 
and  cemented  hard  and  fast,  which,  in  turn,  light,  air,  heat 
and  water  join  hands  to  overcome.  The  soil  of  the  north- 
ern section  of  our  county  is  of  this  decomposed  granite. 
There,  too,  are  found  other  ingigneous  rocks. 

In  the  southern  section  also  the  rocks  show  evidence  of 
extreme  heat,  crystalized  instead  of  stratified — for  lava 
cooled  will  contain  crystal,  the  deposits  of  water  for  ages 
packed  tight  together  will  give  stratified  rock,  of  which  I 
think  we  have  none.  Cane  Creek  Mountains  are  of  Huro- 
nian  slate.  The  Major  Hills  are  Triassic  ;  there  is  found 
in  large  quantities  the  finest  kind  of  whetstone. 

Alamance  has  no  coal  ;  Laurentian  and  Huronian  periods 
are  by  far  too  old  and  innocent  for  any  thing  like  the  highly 
civilized  complexity  of  coal. 

But  auriferous  quartz  is  found  throughout  the  entire 
southern  paTt  on  both  sides  the  line  dividing  the  Huronian 
slate  from  the  Laurentian  granite,  though  no  profitable 
mines  have  as  yet  been  found.  Probably  the  best  is  in 
Newlin  township,  on  Stafford's  or  McVey's  farm— a  quartz 
mine,  I  think,  the  gold   in  it,  like  honey  comb.     About 


THE    HISTORY    OF    ALAMANCE.  1 5 

$500  has  been  taken,  but  like  the  Regulator's  decision  in 
the  Hillsboro  court — "  cost  exceeds  the  whole." 

The  State  geologist  says  Alamance  belongs  to  the  "  Caro- 
lina Belt  of  Gold."  "The  Western  saying  that  '  a  good 
gold  mine  is  one  which  will  pay  dividends  under  poor 
management'  would  exclude."  he  says,  "all  Southern  gold 
mines  from  even  this  distinction."  So  Alamance  may  not 
expect  bonanzas  except  in  her  golden  tobacco  belt,  rightly 
handled  at  Alamance  markets. 

Southern  Alamance  belongs  to  a  strip  extending  through 
Person,  Orange,  Chatham  and  Randolph,  against  whose 
metamorphosed  slates  and  schists,  volcanic,  the  sounding 
seas  once  washed  their  waters — when  time,  you  know,  owed 
no  tribute  to  man's  dominion  and  Mother  Nature  forgot  to 
put  in  much  gold,  knowing  that  it  meant  contentions  and 
disasters. 

Our  land  is  old,  you  see,  but  without  the  castles  of  Cologne; 
old,  but  innocent  of  the  history  of  Rome,  of  Palestine,  and 
Colchis  and  Phocis  ;  oldest  of  all,  but  still  interestingly 
young  and  charmingly  undeveloped. 

"  By  far  the  most  valuable  mineral  resource  is  its  build- 
ing stone  and  excellent  as  well  as  abundant  supply  of  stone 
for  macadamizing  roads  and  streets.  Alamance  county  has 
enough  surface  stone  to  macadamize  every  mile  of  its  public 
roads,  which  is  an  immense  financial  factor  in  the  growth 
of  every  industry." 

Mr.  E.  M.  Cook  estimates  the  average  available  energy 
of  Haw  River,  which  is  the  chief  water-power,  to  be  250 
horse-power.  From  this  it  is  calculated  that  in  Alamance 
county  Haw  River  and  the  Great  Alamance  combined  have 
an  available  energy  of  not  less  than  4,000  horse-power,  a 
large  part  of  which  is  not  utilized  at  present,  awaiting  the 
magic  wand  of  capital  and  brains,  for  it  takes  that  to  make 
money. 

Alamance  contains  500  miles  of  public  road  ;  240,000 
acres  of  land.     The  census  of  1890  gives  her  a  population 


l6  THE    HISTORY    OF    ALAMANCE. 

of  18,271  ;  there  are  2,782  white  taxable  polls  ;  788  negro 
taxable  polls  ;  whites  have  $4,550,006  taxable  property  ; 
negroes  $87,897.  There  are  19  cotton  mills  in  Alamance, 
besides  additional  improvements  in  the  course  of  erection. 
One  overall  factory  is  in  operation — to  move  in  new  and 
larger  quarters  soon,  the  pride  of  Graham.  One  woollen 
mill  at  Cane  Creek  ;  one  coffin  factory  ;  two  sash,  blinds, 
etc.,  factories ;  one  machine  shop,  another  soon  to  be,  and 
one  knitting  mill. 


CHAPTER  III 


THE    HOME   OF   THE    KED    PEOPLE. 

Alamance  was  never  a  barren  waste.  Less  than  two 
hundred  years  ago  the  Red  men  reveled  here  in  luxuriant 
nature.  In  1700  John  Lawson,  an  Englishman,  set  out 
to  see  the  world  and  landed  in  Carolina.  In  1660,  you 
know  there  were  colonies  along  our  coast.  He  found  the 
inhabitants  "veiy  courteous  and  civil,  especially  the  Gov- 
ernor, to  whose  good  company  and  favor  we  were  much 
obliged." 

This  kindness  did  not  detain  him.  He  came  to  see  the 
fair  land  destined  to  be  our  own.  Passing  up  the  Santee 
country  in  South  Carolina  he  parted  from  his  company  and 
crossed  over  the  line  resolving  to  see  North  Carolina.  Best 
of  all  he  kept  a  diary. 

Because  his  history  is  rare  and  because  it  describes  this 
section  it  is  not  amiss  to  quote  largely  from  it.  Setting  out 
from  the  Sapona  Indians  south  of  us  he  crossed  several 
creeks  "  convenient  for  watermills,  and  a  pretty  river  called 
Rocky  river,  having  a  ridge  of  high  mountains  running 
from  its  banks  to  the  eastward,  and  disgorging  itself  into 
the  Sapona,  so  that  there  is  a  pleasant  neck  of  land  betwixt 
both  rivers.  You  can  scarce  go  a  mile  without  meeting 
with  one  of  these  small,  swift  currents,  there  being  no  swamp 
to  be  found,  but  pleasant,  dry  roads  all  over  the  country. 
Next  day  we  had  fifteen  miles  farther  to  the  Keyanwees. 
The  land  is  more  mountainous,  but  extremely  pleasant. 
The  valleys  are  very  rich.  At  noon  we  passed  over  another 
stony  river  called  Hilhwaree  affording  as  good  blue  stone 
for  mill  stones  as  that  from  Cologne.  The  veins  of  marble 
are  very  large  and  curious  on  this  river.  Five  miles  to  the 
northwest  stands  the  Keyanwee's  town."  That  was  south- 
west of  Alamance.  Again  they — Lawson  and  his  Indian 
2 


l8  THE    HISTORY   OF    ALAMANCE. 

guide  pass  over  two  pretty  rivers,  "  something  bigger  than 
Highwaree  but  not  quite  so  stony.  We  took  these  two 
rivers  to  make  one  of  the  northward  branches  of  Cape 
"  Fair"  river,  but  afterwards  found  our  mistake. 

"  The  next  day  we  traveled  over  very  good  land,  but  full 
of  freestone  and  marble,  which  pinched  our  feet  severely. 
We  took  up  our  quarters  in  a  sort  of  savannah  ground  that 
had  few  trees  in  it.  The  land  was  good  and  had  several 
quarries  of  stone. 

"  Next  morning  we  got  our  breakfast  of  parched  corn,  hav- 
ing nothing  but  that,  to  subsist  on  for  above  one  hundred 
miles.  All  the  pine  trees  were  vanished,  for  we  had  seen 
none  for  two  days,.  We  passed  through  a  delicate  rich  soil 
this  day  ;  no  hills  but  pretty  risings  and  levels  which  made 
a  beautiful  country.  We  passed  three  rivers  this  day,  the 
first  about  the  bigness  of  Rocky  river,  the  other  not  differ- 
ing in  size.  Then  we  made  not  the  least  question,  but  that 
we  had  passed  over  the  northwest  branch  of  Cape  Fair, 
travelling  that  day  about  thirty  miles.  We  were  much 
taken  with  the  fertility  and  pleasantness  of  the  neck  of  land 
between  these  two  branches,  and  no  less  pleased  that  we 
had  crossed  the  river  which  used  to  frighten  passengers 
from  fording  it.  At  last  determining  to  rest  on  the  other 
side  of  a  hill  which  we  saw  before  us  ;  when  we  were  on 
the  top  thereof,  there  appeared  to  us  such  another  delicious, 
rapid  stream  as  that  of  Sapona,  having  large  stones,  about 
the  bigness  of  an  ordinary  house,  lying  up  and  down  the 
river.  As  the  wind  blew  very  cold  at  northwest  and  we 
were  very  weary  and  hungry,  the  swiftness  of  the  current 
gave  some  cause  to  fear ;  but  at  last  we  concluded  to  vent- 
ure over  that  night,  accordingly  we  stripped  and,  with  great 
difficulty  got  safe  to  the  north  side  of  the  famous  Haw 
river,  by  some  called  Reatkin  ;  the  Indians  differing  in  the 
names  of  places  according  to  their  several  nations.  It  is 
called  Haw  river  from  the  Sissepahaw  Indians,  who  dwell- 
upon   this  stream,  which  is  one  of  the  main  branches  of 


THE    HISTORY   OF    ALAMANCE.  1 9 

Cape  Fair,  there  being  rich  land  enough  to  contain  some 
thousands  of  families.  This  river  is  much  such  another  as 
Sapona,  both  seeming  to  run  a  vast  way  up  the  country. 
Here  is  plenty  of  good  timber,  and  especially  of  a  scaly 
barked  oak ;  and  as  ther"e  is  stone  enough  in  both  rivers, 
and  the  land  is  extraordinary  rich,  no  man  that  will  be  con- 
tent within  the  bounds  of  reason,  can  have  any  grounds  to 
dislike  it. 

As  soon  as  it  was  day  we  set  out  for  the  Ochonechy  town, 
it  being,  by  estimation,  twenty  miles  away.  We  were  got 
about  half  way  (meeting  great  gangs  of  turkies)  when  we 
saw  at  a  distance,  thrrty_ loaded  horses,  coming  on  the  road 
with  four  or  five  men,  on  other  jades  driving  them.  They 
were  from  Virginia.  Thejeader's  name  was  Massey  born 
near  Leeds  in  Yorkshire,  after  a  few  questions  he  gave  us 
two  wheaten  biscuits  and  a  little  amunition,  and  advised  us 
to  strike  down  the  country  for  Ronoack,  and  not  think  of 
Virginia  because  of  the  Sinnagers,  of  whom  they  were 
afraid,  though  so  well  armed  and  numerous.  They  per- 
suaded us  also  to  call  upon  one  Will  Enoe,  as  we  went  to 
Adshusheer,  for  that  he  would  conduct  us  safe  among  the 
English,  giving  him  the  character  of  a  very  faithful  Indian, 
which  we  afterwards  found  true  by  experience.  The  Vir- 
ginia men  affirmed  that  they  had  never  seen  twenty  miles 
of  such  extraordinary  rich  land  lying  all  together  like  that 
betwixt  Haw  river  and  the  Ochonechy  town." 

""Having  taken  our  leave  of  each  other  ^e  set  forward, 
and  about  three  o'clock  reached  the  town.  The  Indians 
brought  us  good  fat  bear  and  venison.  Their  houses  were 
hung  with  a  good  sort  of  tapestry,  as  fat  bear  and  dried 
venison  ;  no  Indians  having  greater  plenty  than  these.  The 
savages  do  indeed,  still  possess  the  flower  of  Carolina,  the 
English  enjoying  only  the  fag  end  of  that  fine  country. 
We  had  not  been  in  the  town  two  hours  when  Enoe  Will 
came  into  the  King's  cabin,  which  was  our  quarters.  We 
asked  him  if  he  would  conduct  us  to  the  English,  and  what 


20  THE    HISTORY   OF     ALAMANCE. 

he  would  have  for  his  pains ;  he  answered  he  would  go 
with  us,  and  for  what  he  was  to  have  he  left  to  our  dis- 
cretion." 

"The  next  morning  we  set  out  with  Enoe  Will  towards 
Adshusheer,  leaving  the  Virginia  path,  and  striking  more 
to  the  eastward  for  Ronoack.  Several  Indians  were  in  our 
company  belonging  to  Will's  nation,  who  are  the  Shoccories, 
mixed  with  the  Enoe  Indians,  and  those  of  the  nation  of 
Adshusheer.  Enoe  Will  is  their  chief  man,  and  rules  as 
far  as  the  banks  of  Reatkin  or  Haw  river.  It  was  a  sad, 
stony  way  to  Adshusheer.  We  went  over  a  small  river 
by  Ochonechy  and,  in  this  fourteen  miles,  through  several 
other  streams  which  empty  themselves  into  the  branches 
of  Cape  Fair.  "  The  stony  way  made  me  quite  lame,  so 
that  I  was  an  hour  or  two  behind  the  rest ;  but  honest  Will 
would  not  leave  me,  but  bid  me  welcome  when  we  came  to 
his  house,  feasting  us  with  hot  bread  and  bear's  oil.  There 
runs  a  pretty  rivulet  by  this  town.  They  brought  us  two 
cocks  and  pulled  their  larger  feathers  off,  never  plucking 
the  lesser,  but  singeing  them  off.  I  took  one  of  these  fowls 
in  my  hand  to  make  it  cleaner  than  the  Indian  had,  and 
dressing  it  which  they  never  do,  but  cook  the  fowl  whole. 
It  kept  up  such  a  struggle  for  a  considerable  time  that  I 
had  much  ado  to  hold  him  in  my  hands.  The  Indians 
laughed  at  me  and  told  me  that  Enoe  Will  had  taken  the 
cock  of  an  Indian  that  was  not  at  home,  and  the  fowl  was 
designed  for  another  use.  I  conjectured  that  he  was  de- 
signed for  an  offering  to  their  god,  who,  they  say  hurts 
them — which  is  the  devil." 

"  Our  guide  and  landlord,  Enoe  Will,  was  one  of  the  best 
and  most  even  tempered  that  ever  I  met  with  in  an  Indian, 
being  alway  ready  to  serve  the  English,  not  out  of  gain  but 
real  affection  ;  which  makes  him  apprehensive  of  being 
poisoned  by  some  wicked  Indians  and  was  therefore  very 
earnest  with  me,  to  promise  him  to  revenge  his  death,  if  it 
should  so  happen.     He  brought  some  of  his  chief  men  into 


THE    HISTORY   OF    ALAMANCE.  21 

his  cabin,  and  two  of  them  having  a  drum  and  a  rattle  sung 
by  us  as  we  lay  in  bed.  This  they  did  to  welcome  us  to 
their  town.  Though  we  fell  asleep  they  continued  their 
serenade  till  morning. 

"  Then  we  set  out  with  our  guide  for  a  nation  about  forty 
miles  from  Adshusheer,  called  the  lower  quarter.  On  the 
next  day  we  came  to  the  Indian  town,  which  was  a  parcel 
of  nasty,  smoky  poles  much  like  the  Waterrees  ;  their  town, 
having  a  great  swamp  running  through  the  middle  of  it- 
The  land  begins  here  to  abate  of  its  height  and  has  some- 
few  swamps.  Most  of  the  Indians  have  but  one  eye,  but 
what  mischance  or  quarrel  has  bereaved  them  of  the  other 
I  could  not  learn.  They  had  very  long  arrows  headed  with 
pieces  of  glass.  These  were  shaped  neatly  like  a  dart.  We 
had  not  been  long  in  this  town  when  two  of  our  company 
(that  had  bought  a  mare  of  John  Stewart)  came  up.  Next  day 
we  went  ten  miles  and  were  stopped  by  the  freshets  of  Enoe 
river  which  is  a  branch  of  the  Neus  Will  had  a  slave,  a 
Sissipahaw  Indian  by  nation,  who  killed  us  several  turkies- 
and  other  game." 

Notice  the  names  Lawson  gives.  Words  never  die,  and 
rivers  never  run  dry.  Gen.  J.  S.  Carr's  plantation  on  the 
Enoe  river  is  Oconeechee  Farm,  Haw  River,  Haw  Creek,, 
Haw  Fields  and  Saxapahaw  are  all  named  for  the  Sissipa- 
haw Indians.  Mississippi  is  also  like  it.  They  are  fairy 
inspirations  and  mystic  breath  of  days  now  long  gone  by. 


CHAPTER  IV 


THE    SAXAPAHAW    INDIANS. 

The  land  makes  the  man  and  the  converse  is  true — the 
man  makes  the  land.  What  both  amount  to  depends  mostly 
on  the  man.  Alamance  was  in  Lawson's  day,  and  still  is, 
an  undeveloped  country.  That  historian  remarked  that 
our  streams  afforded  excellent  mill-sites  and  he  seems  like 
a  seer  looking  plainly  into  the  future  ;  for  theory  and  hope 
are  alike  prophetic.  They  often  yield  more  than  the  mind 
of  man  can  grasp.  There  are  no  chance  occurrences,  but 
only  consequence;  life  does  not  happen,  it  becomes. 

The  people  who  used  to  live  in  Alamance  and  named 
for  us  our  church,  Haw  Fields,  our  streams,  Haw  River  and 
Haw  Creek,  our  factories,  Ossepee,  Altamahaw  and  Saxa- 
pahaw,  thus  making  our  places  distinctive,  are  worthy  of 
Temembrance.  It  is  a  mystery  that  they  could  be  forgotten 
in  so  short  a  time  ;  but  they 

"  Folded  their  tents  as  the  Arabs 
And  as  silently  stole  away." 

To  aid  our  memory  and  to  help  us  realize  what  once  was 
here,  besides  the  names,  there  are  only  arrow-heads,  two  or 
three  traditional  grave  yards  and  Indian  stone  pots  or  corn- 
mills.  One  of  the  latter  sets  at  the  well  in  J.  W.  Stock- 
ard's  yard  for  the  chicken's  drinking-trough. 

Lawson  said  Indian  "  pots  are  often  found  underground 
and  at  the  foot  of  the  banks  where  the  water  has  washed 
them  away.  They  are,  for  the  most  part,  broken  in  pieces  ; 
but  we  find  them  of  a  different  sort  in  comparison  of  those 
the  Indians  use  at  this  day,  who  have  had  no  other  ever 
since  the  English  discovered  America."  He  was  speaking 
of  a  prehistoric  pot  somewhat  unlike  that  used  by  the  Indi- 
ans he  knew.  u  The  bowels  of  the  earth  cannot  have 
altered  them,  since  they  are  thicker,  of  another  shape  and 


THE    HISTORY   OF    ALAMANCE.  23 

composition,  and  nearly  approach  the  urns  of  the  ancient 
Romans." 

Though  belonging  to  the  stone  age  these  people  were 
quick  to  get  guns  and  knives,  and  seemed  to  know  instinc- 
tively how  to  use  them  since  they  lived  by  hunting,  fishing 
and  raising  corn. 

An  Indian  banquet  consisted  of  turkey,  venison,  buffalo, 
and  bear,  a  Brunswick  stew  thickened  with  crushed  wal- 
nuts, hickorynuts,  acorns,  chinquepins,  hazelnuts,  and 
blackgum  berries — the  stone  sinking  and  the  kernels  giv- 
ing an  excellent  flavor.  They  had  green  corn  roasted  in 
the  shuck,  parched  corn  was  a  common  diet,  also  a  sort  of 
hominy.  They  taught  us  the  use  of  Indian  corn  and  the 
different  ways  of  serving  it,  we  taught  them  the  abuse  of 
it — whiskey. 

They  lived  in  wigwams  built  of  bark,  which  are  round 
like  an  oven  to  prevent  any  damage  by  hard  gales  of  wind. 
They  make  the  fire  in  the  middle  of  the  house  and  have  a 
hole  at  the  top  of  the  roof  right  above  the  fire,  to  let  out 
the  smoke.  These  dwellings  were  as  hot  as  stoves,  where 
the  Indians  sleep  and  sweat  all  night.  Though  their  homes 
were  much  infested  with  fleas  yet  there  was  no  bad  odor. 

The  bark  they  make  their  cabins  withal  is  generally 
cypress  or  red  or  white  cedar,  and  sometimes  pine  bark. 
For  building  their  dwellings  they  got  long  poles  of  pine, 
hickory  or  any  other  wood  that  will  bend.  These  they 
warmed  in  the  fire  which  makes  them  tough  and  fit  to  bend. 
The  thickest  ends  they  would  stick  in  the  ground  in  a 
circle  or  elipse  two  or  more  yards  in  diameter.  Then  they 
bent  the  tops  and  tied  them  together  with  bark,  and  brace 
with  other  poles.  They  covered  it  all  over  with  bark  to 
make  it  tight  and  warm.  They  had  out  houses  also,  for 
their  grain  and  skins. 

Our  Indians  were  well  formed,  differing  in  stature,  but 
rather  tall  and  straight — no  bending  forward  or  stoop  in 
the  shoulders  unless  very  old.     Their  limbs  and  hands  and 


24  THE    HISTORY    OF    ALAMANXE. 

feet  were  well  shaped  and  beautiful.  Their  eyes  were 
black  or  a  dark  hazel,  the  white  streaked  with  red. 

Their  skin  was  of  a  tawny  color,  more  brilliant  because 
of  a  cosmetic  made  of  bear's  oil,  mixed  with  walnut  hulls 
and  sumach.  They  were  never  baldheaded,  either,  because 
they  had  no  occasion  to  pull  it  out  when  in  a  fit  of  calcu- 
lating loss  and  gain,  or  because  of  the  excellence  of  their 
hair  ointment,  which  they  used  often  and  well.  This  pre- 
server of  the  hair  was  bear's  oil,  mingled  with  the  powder 
made  from  the  root  of  the  blood-root,  a  white  flower  bloom- 
ing early  in  the  spring,  and  found  not  very  plentiful  in 
these  parts.  Their  teeth  were  yellow  from  smoking 
tobacco. 

They  let  their  nails  grow  very  long,  which  they  said  was 
the  use  of  nails,  and  laughed  at  the  English  for  pairing 
theirs  and  so  disarming  themselves. 

Their  gait  was  sedate  and  majestic,  their  bodies  strong 
and  robust — no  blind  or  cripples  among  them.  They  were 
dexterous  and  steady  both  as  to  their  hands  and  feet.  Their 
bridges  over  Haw  River  were  poles  laid  from  the  bank  to 
the  first  big  rock,  and  so  on  across.  They  taught  us  to 
walk  over  deep  brooks  and  creeks  on  poles  They  didn't 
mind  walking  the  ridge  pole  of  a  barn  roof  and  looking 
down  the  gable  end,  would  spit  upon  the  ground  as  uncon- 
cerned as  if  walking  on  terra  firma. 

They  did  not  work  as  we  and  were  not  inventive,  but 
they  could  learn  a  trade  easily.  Of  course  we  are  inter- 
ested in  their  games,  their  dances  and  whatever  else  they 
did  and  thought. 

Their  chiefest  game  was  a  sort  of  arithmetic,  which  was 
managed  by  a  parcel  of  small,  split  reeds,  the  thickness  of 
a  small  bent ;  these  were  made  very  nicely,  so  that  they 
part  and  are  tractable  ia  their  hands.  They  were  fifty-one 
in  number  ;  their  length  about  seven  inches.  When  they 
played  they  threw  part  of  them  to  their  antagonist.  The 
art  was  to  discover  upon  sight  how  many  you   had  and 


THE    HISTORY   OF    ALAMANCE.  25 

what  you  threw  to  him  that  plays  with  you.  Some  are  so 
expert  at  their  numbers  that  they  will  tell  ten  times  to- 
gether what  they  threw  out  of  their  hands."  Another 
game  they  play  with  persimmon  seeds  like  dice,  or  l<  heads 
and  tails."     Then  they  had  a  kind  of  ball  and  bat  game. 

The  Indians  were  great  gamblers,  often  playing  away 
their  estate  and  even  themselves.  This  they  never  took 
seriously,  but  would  laugh  it  off.  They  simply  accepted 
things  as  they  came  and  never  felt  disappointed.  Their 
dances  show  their  hilarity. 

These  dances  were  of  a  different  nature  ;  and  for  every 
sort  of  dance  they  had  a  different  tune  which  is  alloted  for 
that  dance ;  as,  if  it  be  a  war  dance,  they  had  a  warlike 
song  wherein  they  expressed,  with  all  passion  and  vehe- 
mence imaginable,  what  they  intended  to  do  with  their 
enemies;  how  they  would  kill,  roast,  scalp,  beat  and  make 
captive  such  and  such  numbers  of  them  ;  and  how  many 
they  have  destroyed  before  all  these  songs  were  made  new 
for  every  feast.  The  king  and  war  captain  appoints  some 
one  to  make  these  songs 

Besides  war-dance  feasts,  they  had  those  of  another  na- 
ture, as  when  several  towns  or  nations  had  made  peace. 
Then  the  song  was  adaptable — well-pleasing  to  all  engaged, 
and  related  how  the  bad  spirit  made  them  go  to  war  with 
each  other,  but  it  should  never  be  so  again  ;  but  their  sons 
and  daughters  should  marry,  and  the  two  nations  should 
love  one  another  and  be  one  people. 

They  had  a  third  sort  of  feast-and  dance,  which  was  when 
the  harvest-home  was  ended  and  in  the  spring — like  those 
of  Bible  time.  One  to  return  thanks,  like  our  Thanksgiv- 
ing, the  other  to  ask  a  blessing  for  the  succeeding  year. 

To  encourage  the  young  and  to  teach  them  reverence, 
the  old  Indians  set  up  a  sort  of  idol  dressed  like  an  Indian 
with  lots  of  money — wampum  made  of  shell  hung  round 
their  neck.  "  The  young  men  dare  not  approach  this  im- 
age, for  the  old  ones  will  not  suffer  them  to  come  near  him, 


26  THE    HISTORY   OF    ALAMANCE. 

but  tell  them  that  he  is  some  Indian  warrior  that  died  long 
ago  and  now  is  come  amongst  them  to  see  if  they  work 
well ;  which  if  they  do,  he  will  go  to  the  good  spirit  and 
pray  him  to  send  them  plenty  of  corn,  and  to  make  the 
young  men  all  expert  hunters  and  mighty  warriors."  All 
this  time  the  king  and  old  men  sit  around  the  image  in 
profound  silence,  and  deep  respect  and  veneration. 

All  these  feasts  are  carried  on  something  like  fairs  where 
people  for  miles  and  miles  around  bring  their  several  com- 
modities for  sale. 

The  school  for  their  young  men  was  a  most  abominable 
custom,  called  husquenawing.  About  once  a  year  or  less 
they  took  so  many  of  their  young  men  as  they  think  are 
able  to  undergo  it  and  "graduated  "  them  to  make  them 
obedient  and  respectful  to  their  elders — to  be  taught  good 
breeding.  These  boys  they  confine  in  a  cabin  made  strong 
for  their  reception  and  kept  there  guarded  for  six  weeks  or 
so  in  darkness  and  almost  starvation.  The  little  food  they 
get  was  mixed  with  all  manner  of  filth  and  intoxicating 
plants.  They  went  raving  mad  and  emaciated,  some  dying. 
When  turned  out  they  were  dumb  and  ghastly.  The  sav- 
ages thought  if  it  were  not  for  this  husquenawing  it  would 
be  impossible  to  keep  them  subjugated,  besides  they  said  it 
toughened  the  strong  ones  and  killed  the  weak.  The  girls 
suffered  the  same,  but  it  was  not  co-educational. 

The  Indian  was  the  child  of  nature.  He  knew  materia 
medica  and  was  very  skillful  in  the  use  of  plants  and  re- 
storing health.  He  believed  in  ghosts,  witches  and  conju- 
ration just  as  well ;  and  the  good  and  bad  spirits — the  good 
spirit  who  loved  and  helped  them,  and  the  bad  spirit  who 
tried  to  destroy  them.  He  believed  in  the  immortality  of 
the  soul.  Their  priests  were  their  conjurors  and  doctors. 
They  were  like  the  Jews  in  many  respects,  you  see ;  they 
made  an  offering  of  their  first  fruits,  and  the  most  serious 
sort  of  them  throw  into  the  ashes,  near  the  fire,  the  first  bit 
or  spoonful  of  every  meal  they  sit  down  to.     They  name 


THE    HISTORY   OF    ALAMANCE.  2J 

the  months  thus ;  one  is  the  herring  month,  another  the 
strawberry  month,  another  the  mulberry  month,  and  the 
dogwood  month.  The  northwest  wind  is  called  the  cold 
wind  ;  the  northeast,  the  wet  wind  ;  the  south,  the  warm 
wind.  The  age  of  the  moon  they  understood,  but  knew 
no  different  name  for  the  sun  and  moon.  Their  age  they 
reckon  by  winters — so  many  winters  old.  Either  the  re- 
ligion of  the  Jews  is  a  kind  of  nature-religion  or  the  Indians 
are  their  descendants.  They  said  their  forefathers  came 
from  the  far,  far  west,  ard  that  the  world  is  round. 

The  opinion  of  Eno  Will  in  regard  to  the  Christian  re- 
ligion is  expressed  by  Lawson  as  follows  :  "  I  invited  him 
to  become  a  Christian.  He  made  me  a  very  sharp  reply, 
assuring  that  he  loved  the  English  extraordinary  well,  and 
did  believe  their  ways  to  be  very  good  for  those  that  had 
already  practiced  them,  and  had  been  brought  up  therein ; 
but  as  for  himself,  he  was  too  much  in  years  to  think  of  a 
change,  esteeming  it  not  proper  for  old  people  to  admit  of 
such  alteration.  However,  he  told  me  if  I  would  take  his 
son,  Jack,  who  was  then  about  fourteen  years  of  age,  and 
teach  him  to  talk  in  that  book,  and  make  paper  speak, 
which  they  call  our  way  of  writing,  he  would  wholly  resign 
him  to  my  tuition." 

The  Indians  were  skillful  physicians,  their  roots  and 
"  yarbs  ''  proverbial.  They  also  practiced  magic.  Their 
doings  might  aid  the  scientists,  especially  one  feat.  Law- 
son  says  he  saw  an  Indian  stand  on  the  bank  of  a  river,  and, 
taking  a  reed  two  or  three  feet  long  into  his  mouth,  puffed 
and  blew  for  a  little  while,  then  he  arose  from  the  ground 
and  flew  over  the  river. 

Though  our  Indians  may  have  flown  across  Haw  River, 
still  they  had  not  learned  to  write.  They  left  no  hiero- 
glyphics on  Buzzard's  Rock  or  old  stone  wall. 

Their  speech  was  that  of  a  very  simple  people,  far  below 
the  inflectional  period.  Still  their  numerals,  strange  to 
say,  look  like  those  of  the  Indo  European   family — one  is 


28  THE    HISTORY   OF    ALAMANCE. 

unche;  two,  necte  (like  next);  ten,  wartsanh;  eleven,  unche 
schanwhan.  Three  nations  living  about  thirty  miles  apart 
spoke  each  a  different  language,  thus  causing  misunder- 
standings, jealousies  and  hatreds  that  bring  on  war. 

Though  the  white  people  have  not  returned  the  friendli- 
ness received  from  them  still  they  are  not  alone  to  blame 
for  the  extinction  of  this  race.  Had  they  been  united  as 
one  people  with  general  interests,  independent  but  recog- 
nizing their  mutual  relation,  this  country  may  still  have 
been  theirs.  Though  the  white  man  be  the  stronger,  still 
not  his  strength  but  Indian  weakness  prevailed. 


CHAPTER   V. 


THE    FIRST    PERMANENT  SETTLEMENT  IN  ALAMANCE. 

Two  hundred  years  ago  middle  Carolina  was  like  a  prom- 
ised land  to  those  persecuted  for  the  sake  of  their  political 
and  religious  liberty.  Than  these  they  had  no  other  desi- 
derata ;  and  it  was  but  natural  that  men  like  Lawson  spied 
out  this  land  and  gave  account  of  its  riches  manifold. 

The  earth,  they  thought,  bore  untold  wealth  of  gold. 
All  deeds,  or  grants,  from  Lord  Granville  to  our  forefathers 
reserved  interest,  in  the  mines  to  be  found,  for  the  King 
and  the  Earl.  The  locust  trees,  said  they,  bore  honey  as 
well  as  the  rocks  and  hollow  logs.  Milton,  remembering 
the  conversations  of  his  friend  Raleigh,  drew,  doubtless, 
from  Carolina  his  glowing  accounts  of  Eden.  He  wrote  of 
the  scent  of  grapes  and  flowers  wafted  seaward  by  the  winds. 
Such  was  the  case,  it  is  said,  off  Hatteras.  This  is  an  ex- 
ample. Adcin  and  Eve  haste  to  their  rural  work  "where 
any  row 

Of  fruit-trees,  over-woody,  reach  too  far 

Their  pampered  boughs,  and  needed  hands  to  check 

Fruitless  embraces;  or  they  led  the  vine 

To  wed  her  elm;  she,  spoused,  about  him  twines 

Her  marriageable  arms,  and  with  her  brings 

Her  dower,  the  adopted  clusters,  to  adorn 

His  barren  leaves." 

In  1685  the  few  settlers  in  the  eastern  part  of  this  goodly 
land,  where  the  muscadine  marries  the  elm,  were  without 
any  form  of  government,  said  Spotwood,  "  paying  tribute 
to  neither  God  nor  Caesar." 

To  quote  Bancroft,  "  There  was  no  fixed  minister  in  the 
land  till  1703;  no  church  erected  till  1705;  no  separate 
building  for  a  court  house  till  1722  ;  no  printing  press  till 
1754.  Careless  of  religious  sects,  or  colleges,  or  lawyers  or 
absolute   laws,  the  early  settlers  enjoyed   liberty  of  con- 


30  THE    HISTORY   OF    ALAMANCE. 

science  and  personal  independence,  freedom  of  the  forest 
and  river.  The  children  of  nature  listened  to  the  inspira- 
tions of  nature." 

"The  first  permanent  settlement  in  North  Carolina, " 
said  W.  H.  Battle  "  was  made  about  the  year  1660,  by  emi- 
grants from  Virginia,  on  the  north  s'de  of  Albemarle  sourd, 
and  probably  on  Durant's  neck  in  Perquimans  county, 
lying  between  Perquimans  and  Little  rivers.  The  oldest 
land  title  is  a  conveyance  for  that  neck  of  land  from  the 
King  of  the  Yeopim  Indians  to  George  Duranl,  dated  1662. 
On  the  twenty-fourth  of  March,  1663,  King  Charles  the 
Second,  granted  to  Edward,  Earl  of  Clarendon,  and  others, 
as  true  and  absolute  Lords  Proprietors,  all  the  country  from 
the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific  Ocean,  including  between  the 
thirtv-first  and  thirty  sixth  parallels  of  north  latitude  ;  and 
on  the  thirtieth  of  June,  1665,  by  a  second  charter  he  en- 
larged the  powers  of  the  grantees  and  extended  their  bound- 
ries  so  as  to  include  all  the  country  between  the  parallels 
of  thirty-six  degrees  thirty  minutes  and  twenty-nine  degrees 
north  latitude." 

Among  other  powers  which  they  conferred  on  the  Lords 
Proprietors  was  that  of  enacting  laws  and  constitutions 
uby  and  with  the  advice  assent  and  approbation  of  the 
freemen  thereof,  or  of  the  greater  part  of  them,  or  of  their 
delegates  or  deputies,  who  were  to  be  assembled  from  time 
to  time  for  that  purpose.  In  the  year  1663,  George  Drum- 
mond  was  appointed  by  Governor  Berkley  of  Virginia,  in 
pursuance  of  instructions  of  the  Proprietors,  the  first  Gov- 
ernor of  the  colony  then  known  as  the  county  of  Albemarle. 
1677  Governor  Drummond  was  succeeded  by  Samuel  Steph- 
ens who  was  authorized  to  grant  land,  reserving  to  the  Pro- 
prietors one  half  of  the  gold  and  silver  ore. 

At  this  time  the  first  constitution  was  given  to  the  colony. 
It  directed  that  the  Governor  should  act  with  the  advice  of 
a  council  of  twelve,  one  half  appointed  by  himself,  the 
other  half  by  the  Assembly  ;  the  General  Assembly  was  to 


THE    HISTORY   OF    ALA.MANCE.  31 

be  composed  of  the  Governor,  the  council  of  twelve  dele- 
gates chosen  by  the  freeholders.  The  first  meeting  con- 
vened either  in  1666  or  in  1667.  This  Legislature  was 
called  "  the  Grand  Assembly  of  the  County  of  Albemarle," 
and  on  its  petition  the  Lords  Proprietors  by  an  instrument, 
since  called  the  "Great  Deed  of  Grant,"  directed  that  lands 
should  be  held  by  the  inhabitants  of  the  said  county  on  the 
same  terms  and  conditions  as    lands  were  held  in  Virginia. 

The  principal  acts  of  this  Assembly  were  such  as  were 
believed  to  be  required  by  the  peculiar  situation  of  the 
country,  and  were  prompted  by  an  anxious  desire  to  increase 
its  population.  Suits  for  any  debts  created  out  of  the 
country  were  prohibited  for  five  yeais — new  settlers  were 
exempted  from  taxation  for  one  }  ear — the  right  to  a  certain 
quantity  of  land,  acquired  by  migration,  could  not  be  trans- 
ferred until  the  owner  had  remained  two  years  in  the 
counti  y — dealers  from  abroad  were  prohibited  from  traffick- 
ing with  the  Indians  ;  and  as  there  were  no  regular  minis- 
ters, marriages  might  be  contracted  by  a  simple  declaration 
by  the  parties  of  their  mutual  consent,  made  before  the 
Governor  or  a  member  of  the  council  in  the  presence  of  a 
few  neighbors.  The  Lords  Proprietors  approved  these  laws 
reserving  to  themselves  a  veto  on  the  acts  of  the  Assembly. 

In  1669  the  Proprietors  adopted  for  their  colony  "the 
Fundamental  Constitution  of  Carolina,"  framed  by  Locke 
the  philosopher,  and  fitting  the  young  colony  like  a  heavy 
jewelled  crown  fits  a  baby's  tender  head.  After  producing 
much  discontent  and  disorder  it  was  abrogated  1693. 

By  its  provision  the  oldest  Proprietor  was  called  Pala- 
tine, and  the  style  of  the  enactments  of  the  Grand  Assembly 
during  this  proprietary  government  was  thus  :  "  Be  it  enac- 
ted by  his  Excellency  the  Palatine  and  the  rest  of  the  true 
and  absolute  Lords  Proprietors  of  Carolina,  by  and  wi  h  the 
advice  and  consent  of  the  rest  of  the  members  of  the  General 

Assembly  now  met  at for  the  northeastern  part 

of  the  said  province,  and  it  is  hereby  enacted  by  the  author- 


32  THE    HISTORY   OF    ALAMANCE. 

ity  of  the  same."  These  acts  were  signed  by  the  Governor, 
by  the  deputies  of  the  Lords  Proprietors,  each  having  one 
deputy  and  by  the  speaker  of  the  house  of  delegates. 

A  General  Biennial  Assembly  was  held  at  the  house  of 
Captain  Richard  Sanderson  at  Little  river,  begun  the  seven- 
teenth of  November,  17 15,  continuing  until  January  the 
nineteenth,  1716.  A  revival  of  all  acts  of  the  Assembly  up 
to  that  period  had  been  made  under  directions  of  an  act  of 
the  preceding  session. 

Among  these  is  one  entitled  "an  act  for  ye  confirmation 
of  ye  laws  passed  this  session  of  Assembly  and  for  repealing 
all  former  laws  not  herein  expressed." 

On  the  twenty-fifth  of  July,  1729,  seven  of  the  eight  Pro- 
prietors of  Carolina,  in  consideration  of  seventeen  thousand 
five  hundred  pounds  sterling,  conveyed  all  their  rights, 
privileges  and  franchises  to  George  the  Second,  King  of 
Great  Britain ;  and  Earl  Carteret,  afterwards  Lord  Grac- 
ville,  the  eighth  Lord  Proprietor,  conveyed  all  his  right  of 
jurisdiction  over  the  said  province,  reserving  his  one-eighth 
part  of  the  soil  and  territorial  rights.  The  Proprietary 
Government  then  ceased  and  the  regal  government  com- 
menced. 

The  last  General  Assembly  held  under  the  Proprietary 
Government  met  at  Edenton  November  the  twenty-seventh, 
1729,  and  the  first  under  the  royal  government  met  at  the 
same  place  in  1734.  George  Burrington  was  appointed  by 
the  King  on  the  twenty-ninth  day  of  April,  1730,  the  first 
Royal  Governor.  His  council  consisted  of  seven  members, 
three  of  whom  with  the  Governor  formed  a  quorum.  They 
were  appointed  by  the  Crown. 

Burrington  having  abdicated,  Gabriel  Johnston  was  ap- 
pointed, and  proved  to  be  a  man  distinguished  for  energy, 
prudence  and  scholarship.  Johnston's  term  extended  from 
1734  to  1752;  at  his  death,  Mathew  Rowan  first  as  Presi- 
dent, and  then  successively  Arthur  Dobbs,  William  Tryon 
and  Josiah  Martin  presided  over  our  affairs  until  we  were 


THE    HISTORY    OF    ALAMANCE.  3$ 

old  enough  to  take  care  of  otm-elves  in  1776.  The  last 
Assembly  under  the  Royal  Government  met  at  Newbern 
in  March  1774. 

One  must  know  something  of  North  Carolina  history  to 
appreciate  that  of  Alamance.  Lawson  said  that  the  middle 
section  was  far  surpassing  the  eastern,  Mr.  Bancroft  also 
knew  of  its  excellence. 

For  our  great  grand  parents  "  the  wild  bee  stored  its 
honey  in  hollow  trees,  for  them  unnumbered  swine  fattened 
on  the  fruits  of  the  forest  or  the  heaps  of  peaches  ;  for  them 
in  spite  of  their  careless  lives  and  imperfect  husbandry, 
cattle  multiplied  on  the  pleasant  savannahs,  and  they  de- 
sired no  greater  happiness  than  they  enjoyed."  Our  great 
great  grand  parents  were  "  not  so  much  caged  in  the  woods 
as  scattered  in  lovely  granges.''  There  were  no  towns,  no 
roads,  except  as  paths  were  distinguished  by  notches  in  the 
trees.  They  were  gentle  and  serene,  and  the  "spirit  of 
humanity  maintained  its  influence  in  the  arcadia,  as  royalist 
writers  have  it,  of  'rogues  and  rebels'  in  the  paradise  of 
the  Quakers.'1 


CHAPTER  VI. 


EARLY    SETTLERS    OF    ALAMANCE. 

In  the  long  ago,  Orange  extended  from  the  Neuse  on  the 
east,  and  took  in  all  the  land  on  the  Eno,  the  Haw,  Little 
River,  Flat  River,  the  Little  Alamance,  the  Great  Ala- 
mance, Cane  Creek,  Stinking  Quarter,  etc.  From  a  strip 
of  its  liberal  domain  Alamance  was  formed  in  1848. 

The  fertility  of  the  soil,  the  abundance  of  water,  wood- 
land and  grass,  the  smiling  savannahs  of  Haw  Fields,  The 
Oaks,  Alamance  Creeks  and  Stinking  Quarter  attracted  the 
attention  of  those  who  came  to  America  for  life,  liberty  and 
the  pursuit  of  happiness.  They  found  it  not  in  Pennsylva- 
nia for  that  was  distinctly  the  home  of  the  Quaker,  in  despite 
of  whom  she  suffered  severely  by  French  and  Indian  wars. 
Virginia  offered  no  rest  for  the  weary  travellers,  for  this 
was  Episcopal  dominion. 

Just  when  the  earliest  settlers  came  to  Alamance  is  a 
question,  but  this  was  one  of  the  first  settlements  in  Mid- 
dle Carolina.  In  1744  there  was  a  steady  stream  of  emi- 
gration pouring  from  Pennsylvania — Quakers,  Presbyteri- 
ans, etc. 

About  1740  Gilbert  Stray  horn  came  to  Haw  Fields. 
Here  the  Craigs,  the  Blackwoods,  the  Kirklands,  the  Free- 
lands,  and  perhaps  the  Mebanes,  the  Tates,  the  Harts,  the 
Nelsons,  the  Mitchells,  the  Johnstons''  were  among  the 
early  settlers.  *uThe  Craigs,  the  Blackwoods,  the  Kirk- 
lands and  perhaps  the  Freelands  came  across  the  Atlantic 
together,"  and,  settling  first  in  Pennsylvania,  removed  to 
North  Carolina,  passing  through  Virginia  in  the  dead  of 
winter,  crossing  its  streams  on  ice.  They  reached  Haw 
Fields  about  1736-40.  These  families  were  connected  with 
the  first  church  at'  Haw  Fields — the  embryo  of  Orange 
Presbytery. 

It  goes,  without  saying,  that  these  people  were  Scotch 

*Rev.  Mr.  Craig,  of  Reidsville. 


THE    HISTORY   OF    ALAMANCE.  35 

and  Scotch-Irish.  Some  Deutch  from  Holland  perhaps 
tossed  to  and  fro  by  bloodshed,  tyranny  and  oppression, 
and  knew  it  when  it  again  appeared  to  them. 

Dr.  David  Caldwell  preached  to  congregations  in  Guil- 
ford and  Orange  earlier,  I  think,  than  1765.  He  was  an 
active  though  elderly  minister  in  177 1-8.  He  tried  to 
make  peace  between  the  Regulators  and  office-holders. 
James  Hunter  withdrew  from  the  church  because  he  thought 
his  minister  too  cool  on  the  question  then  at  issue. 

In  the  lovely  country  between  Dr.  Caldwell's  charge  at 
Alamance  church  and  Haw  Fields  lived  the  Albrights,  the 
Halls,  the  Isleys,  the  Montgomerys,  and  the  Sharpes  peo- 
ple from  Germany,  speaking  the  German  language,  fitting 
their  sanctum  sanctorum  with  German  customs  and  found- 
ing their  churches,  St.  Paul's  and  Stonen,  on  German  doc- 
trine. Judging  from  relics — a  clock  direct  from  Germany 
— this  settlement  is  as  old  as  1744  at  least.  The  early  set- 
tlers of  Alamance  were  Scotch  and  German,  except  that 
settlement  south  of  the  Stinking  Quarter  and  below  Clen- 
denen's  ford  on  Haw  River. 

There  the  Quakers  settled,  coming  from  Virginia  and 
Pennsylvania.  The  monthly  meeting  at  Cane  Creek  was 
in  working  order  in  1752,  presiding  over  several  prepara- 
tive meetings — New  Garden  in  Guilford,  Spring  in  South 
Alamance,  and  South  Fork  in  Chatham.  Nathaniel  Woody, 
88  years  old,  said  South  Alamance  was  settled  in  1700.  He 
said,  also,  the  people  then  were  quite  as  well  off  as  they  are 
now,  or  better.  He  had  heard  William  Johnson,  an  ordi- 
nary farmer  and  blacksmith,  complaining  that  he  hadn't 
but  ninety-nine  sheep  and  couldn't  get  above  it.  Who  has 
99  sheep  now? 

On  Nov.  6,  1728,  ten  thousand  acres  of  land  in  Haw's 
Old  Fields  were  patented  by  E.  Moseley.  This  was  con- 
veyed to  Gov.  George  Burrington  March  3,  1730.  Of  him 
Nash  bought  land  April  10,  1754. 

About  the  time  Haw  Fields  was  growing  into  a  popu- 
lous civilized  community,  Earl  Granville  became  involved 


'2,6  THE    HISTORY    OF    ALAMANCE. 

for  debt  by  gambling,  it  is  said,  to  Lord  Barrington  of  Lon- 
don. He  paid  his  debts  with  that  large  tract  of  land  lying 
on  the  Cape  Fear  River  and  adding  in  that  part  on  Haw 
River.  Lord  Barrington  in  turn  played  the  game  of  Gran- 
ville to  Mr.  Sam'l  Strudwick  of  London.  A  descendant  of 
his  settled  at  the  Wm.  Craig  homestead. 

Many  squatters  lived  all  along  the  Haw  River.  To  get 
them  off  the  Strudwick  land  was  a  matter  of  litigation  in 
the  courts  for  many  years.  A  member  of  the  Ashe  family, 
for  his  services  in  these  law  suits,  received  a  large  tract  of 
land,  now  known  as  the  Austin  Quarter,  and  more  besides. 
Mr.  J.  A.  Long's  large  farm*  embraces  part  of  the  land. 
There  in  the  old  Ashe  graveyard,  overgrown,  are  the  last 
remains  of  Governor  Sam'l  Ashe,  dying  at  his  summer 
residence. 

Moseley  was  one  of  Granville's  agents.  It  may  help  to 
locate  something  of  interest  to  the  people  of  Alamance  to 
know  to  whom  and  when  this  Moseley  land  was  meted 
out — ten  thousand  acres  on  the  east  of  Haw  River.  Con- 
veyed to  Gov.  George  Burrington,  1730;  to  Nash,  April  14, 
1754;  to  Justice,  October  11,  1780.  From  Wm.  Nash  to 
Peter  Mallet  of  New  Hampshire,  May  1,  1787;  purchased 
by  said  Nash  of  Mallet  and  Estes,  1785. 

Sam'l  Nash  to  John  Justice,  1780,  October. 

Sam'l  Nash  to  Thos.  Thompson,  1788,  August. 

Sam'l  Nash  to  Wm.  Morrow,  1789,  October. 

Sam'l  Nash  to  John  Steele,  1788,  August. 

Sam'l  Nash  to  Robert  Milliken,  1792.  August. 

Sam'l  Nash  to  John  Woods,  1790,  November. 

Governor  Burrington's  land  was  conveyed  to  Strudwick, 
April  10,  1754.  "  Between  George  Burrington,  late  Gov- 
ernor of  North  Carolina,  but  now  residing  in  the  Parish  of 
St.  Margaret,  Westminster  county,  Middlesex,  and  Sam'l 
Strudwick  of  Mortimer  street,  in  the  Parish  of  St.  Maryl- 
born,  in  said  County  Middlesex,  and  son  of  Edmund  Strud- 
wick.    Consideration,  five  shillings,  Stag   Park   on  north- 

*Nowt  he  property  of  J.  W.  Menefee. 


THE    HISTORY    OF    ALAMANCE.  T>7 

east  of  Cape  Fear,  ten  thousand  acres  ;  Haw  Old  Fields, 
northwest  Cape  Fear,  thirty  thousand  acres.1'  Strudwick 
and  wife  to  Howard,  1745;  to  Alex.  Mebane,  June  28,  1769; 
to  John  Thompson,  T787;  to  J.  Steele,  1787,  and  to  A.  Me- 
bane, Oct.  17,  1772.  "  Being  a  part  of  a  tract  of  land  pat- 
ented by  Edward  Moseley,  Nov.  17 18;  by  him  conveyed  to 
Governor  Burrington,  1730,  and  then  to  Strudwick,  1754.- 

Sam'l  Strudwick  to  John  Kennedy,  Oct.  21,  1789. 

Sam'l  Strudwick  to  James  Christmas,  Sept.,  1790. 

Sam'l  Strudwick  to  Allen  Sykes,  Aug.  22,  178- 

Sarn'l  Strudwick  to  Jemtnings  Gibson,  Oct.  24,  1790. 

Sam'l  Strudwick  to  Thomas  Lesley,  Oct.  22,  1790. 

Sam'l  Strudwick  to  Thomas  Bradshaw,  Oct.  24,  1790. 

Sam'l  Strudwick  to  John  O'Daniel,  Aug.  4,  1791. 

John  Strudwick  to  Wm.  Nash,  May  28,  1795. 

S.  Strudwick  to  S.  Kirkpatrick,  Oct.,  1792. 

S.  Strudwick  to  Benj.  Dixon,  July,  1793 

S.  Strudwick  to  Lewis  Kirk,  Maich,  1789. 

W.  F.  Strudwick  to  Jas.  Mebane,  February,  1799. 

W.  F.  Strudwick  to  James  Moore,  May,  1799 

W.  F.  Strudwick  to  Wm.  Woody,  December,  1798. 

W.  F.  Strudwick  to  Luke  Grimes,  May,  1779. 

W.  F.  Strudwick  to  Thomas  Bradshaw,  November,  1799. 

W.  F.  Strudwick  to  James  Turner,  June,  1799. 

W.  F.  Strudwick  to  Wm.  Paris,  November,  1799. 

W.  F.  Strudwick  to  Jas.  C  endenen,  1796. 

Sam'l  Strudwick  to  James  Thompson,  September,  1790. 

W.  F.  Strudwick  to  Elisha  Kirk,  February,  180 1. 

W.  F.  Strudwick  to  John  Jones,  December,  1795. 

W.  F.  Strudwick  to  Nathan  Christmas,  December,  1795. 

W.  F.  Strudwick  to  John  Johnson,  May,  1798. 

W.  F.  Strudwick  to  Wm.  Crutchfield,  December,  1797. 

W.  F.  Strudwick  to  John  Nelson,  October,  1795. 

W.  F.  Strudwick  to  John  Justice,  June,  1798. 

W.  F.  Strudwick  to  Wm.  Waters,  Oct.  9,  1795. 

W.  F.  Strudwick  to  Jas.  Patterson,  Aug.  16,  1785. 

W.  F.  Strudwick  to  E   McDaniel. 


38  THE    HISTORY    OF    ALAMANCE. 

W.  F.  Strudwick  to  John  Pugh,  August,  1797. 

W.  F.  Strudwick  to  F.  Clendenen,  May,  1802. 

W.  F.  Strudwick  to  Sam'l  Stewart,  June,  1802. 

W.  F.  Strudwick  to  J.  Clendenen,  August,  1803. 

W.  F.  Strudwick  to  Ruben  Smith,  August,  1804. 

W.  F.  Strudwick  to  Wrn.  Freshwaters. 

W.  F.  Strudwick  to  R.  Woods,  November  1802. 

W.  F.  Strudwick  to  J  as.  Turner,  October  1804. 

W.  F.  Strudwick  to  Sam'l  Kirkpatrick,  October,  1809. 

W.  F.  Strudwick  to  Val.  Moore,  October,  1807. 

W.  F.  Strudwick  to  S.  Bradshaw,  October,  1805. 

Extracts  from  some  of  the  old  deeds  are  as  follows : 

Robert  Patterson  in  consideration  of  the  sum  of  3  shil- 
lings paid  to  Earl  Granville  May  1,  1752,  the  said  Earl 
granted  640  acres  in  Parish  of province  of  North  Caro- 
lina, agreed  that  he  pay  rent  at  the  rate  of  3  shillings  per 
year  and  cultivate  3  acres  per  hundred.  Hosea  Tarpley 
and  Sarah  his  wife,  had  land  granted  them  by  Granville, 
in  the  Parish  of  St.  John,  400  acres,  Feb.  13,  1756.  Wm. 
Mebane  leased  from  Earl  Granville  for  10  shillings  and 
yearly  rent  a  parcel  of  land  in  the  Parish  of  St.  Mathewon 
both  sides  of  the  James  Collins  creek,  320  acres. 

In  1744  the  Earl  Granville  granted,  bargained  and  sold, 
for  and  in  consideration  of  covenants,  provisions  and  agree- 
ments by  Benjamin  Martin  that  parcel  of  land  lying  in  the 
Parish  of  St.  Mathew  of  the  County  of  Orange  in  North 
Carolina  on  the  west  side  of  Haw  river  and  on  both  sides 
of  Cane  creek,  600  acres  of  land  with  the  exception  of  34 
of  the  gold  and  silver  mines  found  there,  at  the  rate  of  3 
shillings  sterling  per  hundred  acres  per  year  or  four  shil- 
lings Proclamation  money  at  or  upon  the  two  most  usual 
feast  days — the  feast  of  the  Blessed  Virgin  Mary  and  St. 
Michael,  the  Arch  Angel. 

Granville,     [seal] 

By  Francis  Corbin, 
Registered  by  Jas.  Watson,  Clerk  of  Court. 


THE   HISTORY   OF    ALAMANCE.  39 

On  the  second  of  May,  1755,  Benjamin  Martin  deeded 
this  land  to  William  Johnson,  selling  it  for  sixty  pounds 
with  all  the  houses,  gardens,  orchards,  fences  and  improve- 
ments. 

William  Cox,  planter,  bought  of  William  Pegott,  sadler, 
in  September,  1755,  in  consideration  of  28^  Virginia  money 
one  hundred  acres  of  land  on  the  south  side  of  Haw  river 
and  on  Cane  creek.  This  being  a  tract  of  land  granted  to 
Wm.  Peggott  by  Granville's  agents  in  February,  1755.  In 
that  year  John  Rogers  bought  of  George  Yate,  Governor  of 
Virginia,  for  15^  Virginia  money,  a  tract  of  land  lying  on 
the  north  side  of  Haw  creek  in  Orange  in  the  presence  of 
John  Pryor,  Trustee,  and  others. 

James  Watson,  gentleman,  sold  to  William  Marat  a  par- 
cel of  land  lying  on  Haw  river  containing  by  estimation 
five  hundred  and  seventy-seven  acres  on  Watson's  creek. 
In  1755  also,  John  and  Alexander  West  purchased  land  on 
Stony  creek.  Caunrad  or  Conrad  Langna  owned  the  land 
where  Graham  now  stands — west  of  Haw  river.  Jacob 
Albright  deeded  to  Joseph  Albright  a  tract  of  land  on  the 
Great  Alamance,  May  13,  1778.  The  witnesses  were  Phil- 
lip Albright  and  John  Patton,  April  18,  1775,  in  consider- 
ation of  the  sum  of  18^  Prock..  Jacob  Albright  deeded  to 
John  Albright  a  tract  of  land  containing  150  acres  on  the 
south  side  of  the  Great  Alamance,  it  being  a  part  of  a  large 
tract  of  land  northeast  of  Nicholas  Gibbs  which  Gibbs 
purchased  of  Henry  Eustice  McCullock  and  Jacob  Al- 
brightsen. 

This  indenture  made  the  nth  of  June,  1754,  in  the 
XXVII  >ear  of  the  reign  of  our  sovereign  Lord  George  II. 
by  the  grace  of  God  of  Great  Britain,  France  and  Ireland, 
King  Defender  of  the  Faith  and  between  the  Right  Hon- 
orable John  Earl  Granville,  Viscount  Carteret  and  Baron 
Carteret  of  Hawns  in  the  County  of  Bedford  in  the  King- 
dom of  Great  Britain,  Lord  President  of  his  Majesty's  most 
honorable  Privy  Council  and  Knight  of  the  most    noble 


40  THE    HISTORY    OF    ALAMANCE. 

order  of  the  Garter  of  the  one  part  and  John  Wood  of  the 
County  of  Orange,  of  the  Province  of  North  Carolina,  plan- 
ter, of  the  other  part.  Whereas  the  said  most  excellent 
Majesty,  King  George  II.  by  a  certain  indenture  bearing 
date  September  17,  1744,  made  between  his  Majesty  on  the 
one  part  and  the  Lord  Earl  Carteret  on  the  other  did  for 
the  considerations  herein  mentioned,  grant  unto  the  said 
Earl  (by  the  name  of  John  Lord  Carteret)  a  certain  tract  of 
land  in  the  Province  of  North  Carolina  in  America,  and  all 
the  sounds,  Creeks,  Havens,  Ports,  Rivers,  Streams  and 
other  Royalties  as  they  are  therein  set  forth,  granted  and 
confirmed  to  the  said  John  Earl  Granville,  by  the  name  of 
one  eighth  part  of  the  Provinces  of  South  and  North  Caro- 
lina said  Indenture  enrolled  in  the  High  Court  of  Chancery 
in  Great  Britain,  and  in  the  secretary's  office  in  the  Prov- 
ince of  North  Carolina.  Now  this  Indenture  witnesseth 
that  for  the  sum  of  three  shillings,  Proclamation  money  to 
John  Earl  Granville  by  the  said  John  Wood,  the  said  Earl 

hath  sold  that  parsel  of  land  lying  in  the  Parish 

of  the  County  of  Orange  and  Province  of  North  Carolina, 
on  Stones  creek,  and  paying  rent  yearly  and  every  year 
forever  twenty-four  shillings  which  is  at  the  rate  of  three 
shillings  per  hundred  acres,  at  or  upon  the  most  usual  feast 
days,  that  is  the  feast  of  the  annunciation  of  the  Blessed 
Virgin  Mary  and  the  feast  of  St.  Michael,  Arch  Angel. 
Treasuring  one-fourth  part  of  all  the  gold  and  silver  mines 
found  on  it  to  the  King  and  one  half  part  of  treasure  to 
Granville.  Granville  by  Francis  Corbin  and  Benjamin 
Whea'tly. 

The  purest  race  on  earth  live  here  in  North  Carolina. 
People  of  enterprise  actuated  by  love  of  liberty  came  from 
England,  Germany,  Holland  and  France  and  the  neighbor- 
ing Virginia  settled  here  in  the  early  days.  There  has 
since  been  no  immigration  but  her  sons  and  daughters  have 
left  their  old  home  to  settle  Georgia,  Tennessee,  Kentucky, 
Ohio,  Indiana,  Illinois,  etc.  That  accounts  for  a  large  ele- 
ment in  the  thrifty  west. 


CHAPTER  VII. 


AN    APPROACHING    CLOUD. 

About  1744  trouble  began  to  arise  between  Granville's 
agents  and  the  early  settlers.  It  was  said  that  the  title  to 
their  land  was  not  good.  Several  families  moved  else- 
where. New  Hope  Church  was  founded  about  this  time 
by  the  Presbyterians  leaving  Haw  Fields. 

On  Granville's  reservation  the  agents  received  10  per 
cent,  commission;  later  this  was  reduced  to  5  per  cent,  with 
a  salary  of  two  hundred  pounds  each.  Childs  and  Corbin 
had  succeeded  Mosely  and  Holten,  and  they  contrived  by 
villainous  means  to  extort  money  from  those  who  had  al- 
ready paid  for  their  lands.  One  of  them  being  a  lawyer, 
pretended  to  find  a  fault  or  defect  in  the  other's  patent, 
which  had  been  signed  simply  u  Granville"  by  his  attor- 
neys, saying  that  it  ought  to  have  been  by  "the  right  hon- 
orable earl  Granville,  by  his  attorneys,"  etc.  Granville 
lived  too  far  away  to  set  the  matter  right.  So  patents  were 
to  be  taken  out  a  second  time.  They  doubled  the  fee  and 
contrived  a  device  which  they  fixed  to  a  warrant  of  survey, 
without  authority,  for  which  they  charged  six  dollars. 
Being  thus  harrowed  beyond  endurance,  the  people  seized 
Corbin  and  made  him  produce  his  books  and  give  bond  to 
return  his  illegal  fees.  Corbin  entered  suit  against  these 
"rioters,"  but  he  was  forced  to  discontinue  suit  and  pay 
cost. 

Besides  the  trouble  growing  out  of  tenure,  "  North  Caro- 
lina had  been  insulted  and  oppressed  by  the  weak  and 
vicious  administration  of  wicked  Judges  and  worthless 
Governors.  The  King  had  entrusted  the  royal  governors 
with  extensive  power  and  it  was  exercised  to  depiess  the 
spirit  of  freedom."  The  absolute  veto  which  they  had  on 
the  acts  of  the  assembly,  and  the  power  of  dissolving  it  at 
pleasure,  made  each  one,  for  the  time  being,  nearly  an  ab- 
solute monarch  in  North  Carolina. 


42  THh    HISTORY    OF    ALAMANXE. 

The  three  kinds  of  money — called  respectively  Procla- 
mation, Virginia  and  Sterling — was  a  cause  of  complica- 
tions. 

Contentions  were  growing  between  rulers  and  ruled  in 
Alamance.  Herman  Husbands,  a  representative  in  the 
legislature  previous  to  1770,  carried  the  taxes  paid  by  our 
farmers,  at  their  request,  to  Wilmiugton,  saying  as  he  threw 
the  money  on  the  table  before  the  governor,  in  presence  of 
the  assembly,  "  Here  are  the  taxes  from  my  people.  I 
brought  it  to  you  to  keep  it  from  dwindling,  seeing  that 
money,  when  it  passes  through  so  many  hands,  is  like  a 
cake  of  soap." 

That  our  government  then  was  corrupt,  all  admit ;  that 
office-holders  at  Hillsboro,  then  lording  it  over  Alamance, 
were  bigoted,  officious  and  greedy  of  personal  gain,  no  one 
has  denied.  But  all  do  not  admit  that  their  opposers  were 
heroes  and  far-seeing  patriots. 

Some  of  their  acts  certainly  resembled  those  of  a  mob. 
They,  however,  had  a  plan  and  purpose — that  of  throwing 
off  the  yoke  of  oppression — if  they  had  nothing  to  put  in 
succession  to  the  outrageous  judges,  attorneys  and  clerk- 
register  of  deeds. 

None  are  more  conservative  than  farmers,  and  yet  no 
class  is  more  independent  and  unrestrained  than  they. 
When  under  the  sting  of  a  tyrannical  lash  what  they,  among 
themselves,  determine  is  the  vindication  of  right.  When 
the  law  of  the  land  is  inadequate,  failing  to  reach  the  point, 
there  are  the  countrvmen,  good,  substantial,  solid,  ready  to 
probe  the  old  sore  and  to  perform  a  surgical  operation  for 
the  good  of  the  body  politic. 

"  Where  there  is  then  no  good 
For  which  to  strive,  no  strife  can  grow  up  there  from  faction." 

The  proceedings  at  court  throw  some  light,  thus  help- 
ing each  one  to  judge  for  himself : 
"Court  March  1768. 


THE    HISTORY   OF    ALAMANCE.  43 

Present  the  Honorable  Martin  Howard,  Richard  Hen- 
derson and  Maurice  Moore  esq. 

Petit  jury:  David  Mitchell,  Christopher  Barbee,  William 
Grimes.  William  Bynum  etc. 

At  the  September  court  1 768  the  above  being  present; 

"  Harmon  Husbands  who  stood  bound  for  William  But- 
ler appeared,  came  into  court,  and  delivered  him  up  to 
Court,  was  ordered  into  custody.  Next  day  Harmon  Hus- 
bands, Wm.  Few,  Sam'l  Allin  and  John  Butler  appeared 
and  acknowledged  themselves  indebted  to  our  sovereign 
Lord  the  King,  his  heirs  and  succession  in  the  several  sums 
following,  to  wit,  Harmon  Husbands  500^,  Wm.  Few 
Sam'l  Allin  and  John  Butler  his  securities  in  the  sum  of 
250^  each  on  condition  that  the  said  Harmon  Husbands 
stay  and  perform  the  sentence  of  the  court  now  sitting,  on 
a  certain  Bill  of  Indictment  prepared  against  him,  and  that 
he  do  not  depart  the  court  without  leave  of  same." 

William  Butler  also,  like  the  above,  was  fined  500^  and 
his  securities — John  Piles,  John  Hogan  and  William  Coubs 
250^  each. 

March  Term  Court,  1770 

Martin  Howard  Chief  and  Justice  Richard  Henderson 

Jas.  Hunter  &  als  ~| 

vs  '-  Debt 

Fanning  J 

"  Will  debit  and  issue  plead." 
John  Nunn,  Thomas  Donaldson,  Gilbert  Strayhorn,  Jas. 
McAlister,  John  Barbee,  Thomas  Wilburn,  Hugh  Barnett, 
Jeremiah  Horton,  Henry  Graves,  Thomas  Bradford,  Ralph 
Williams  impanelled  and  sworn  the  truth  to  speak  on  the 
issue  joined  do  say  that  the  defendant  owes  nothing. 

Abner  Nash       ^ 

vs  V  Debt 

Harmon  Husbands  J 

Same  jury  as  above  find  that  there  was  no  Duress  and 
assess  for  the  plaintiff  damages  and  costs. 


44  THE    HISTORY    OF    ALAMANCE. 

Jas.  Hunter    | 

vs  Debt 

Michael  Holt   j 

Same  jury.  Find  defendant  owes  Fifty  pounds.  Or- 
dered later  that  a  commission  Dc  bene  esse  be  issued  for 
the  examination  of in  the  suit  Butler  vs  Holt. 

Ordered  that  the  sheriff  of  Orange  take  Jas.  Hunter  into 
custody  until  he  pay  the  fees  due  to  the  Crown  office. 

Ordered  that  Win.  Payne  appear  at  next  court  to  show 
cause  if  any  he  hath  why  he  doth  not  pay  the  several  fees 
due  the  crown  office  etc. 

Next  day. 

"The  Indictment  preferred  against  James  Hunter,  Nin- 
ion  Hamilton,  Isaac  Jackson,  John  Phillips  Hartsoe,  Win. 
Moffitt,  John  Pile  and  Francis  Dorsett  for  a  Rout,  having 
been  returned  by  the  grand  jury  "a  true  Bill  as  to  all  ex- 
cept John  Pile."  It  is  oidered  by  the  Court,  that  the  Bill 
be  squashed,  by  reason  of  the  irregularity  of  the  return  and 
that  the  attorney  General  prepare  a  new  Bill." 

Another  Indictment  prepared  against  Jas.  Hunter,  Win. 
Butler,  Ninion  Hamilton,  Peter  Craven,  Isaac  Jackson, 
Peter  Julian  for  a  Rout,  having  been  returned  by  Grand 
Jury  ua  true  Bill  as  to  all  except  Peter  Julian."  ''This  Bill 
was  also  Quashed  because  of  irregularity  and  attorney  Gen- 
eral to  prepare  a  new  Bill."' 

The  same  proceedings  against  Wm.  Payne  etc. 

"  Francis  Nash  came  into  court  and  acknowledged  him- 
self indebted  to  the  king  for  the  sum  of  five  hundred  pounds 
but  to  be  void  upon  condition  that  he  make  his  persona^ 
appearance  at  the  next  Superior  Court  of  Justice  to  be  held 
for  Hillsboro  district,  then  to  abide  by  the  judgment  there- 
of and  not  depart  without  leave  thereof." 

Abner  Nash  and  Edmund  Fanning  the  same  for  250^. 

As  a  Superior  Court  of  Justice  begun  and  held  for  the 
District  aforesaid  at  the  Court  House  in  Hillsborough  on 
Saturday  22  of  Sept.  1770. 


THE    HISTORY   OF    ALAMANCE.  45 

Present  the  Honorable  Richard  Henderson  esqr.  associate 
Justice.  Court  adjourned  till  Monday  24th.  The  Court 
appointed  Henry  Pendleton  attorney  for  the  crown. 

"  Several  persons  styling  themselves  Regulators  assem- 
bled together  in  the  court  yard  under  the  conduct  of  Her- 
man Husbands,  Jas.  Hunter,  Rednap  Howell,  Wm.  Butler, 
Sam'l  Devinny  and  many  others,  insulted  some  of  the  gen- 
tlemen of  the  Bar  and  in  riotous  manner  went  into  the 
court  house  and  forcibly  carried  out  some  of  the  attorneys 
and  cruelly  beat  them.  They  then  invited  the  judge 
should  proceed  to  the  trial  of  their  Leaders  who  had  been 
indicted  at  a  former  court  and  that  the  jury  should  be  taken 
out  of  their  party.  Therefore,  the  judge,  finding  it  impos- 
sible to  proceed  with  honor  to  himself  and  justice  to  his 
country,  adjourned  the  court  till  tomorrow  morning  ten 
o'clock  and  took  advantage  of  the  night  and  made  his  es- 
cape and  court  adjourned." 

xr-,1  K°rth  ?rr?Ura  ♦   !  March  Term,  1771. 
Hillsborough  District.  \  '     ' ' 

"  The  persons  who  style  themselves  Regulators  and  under 
the  conduct  of  Harman  Husbands,  Jas.  Hunter,  Rednap 
Howell,  Wm.  Butler,  Samuel  Devinney  and  others  broke 
up  the  court  at  September  Term,  still  continuing  their 
riotuous  meetings  and  severely  threatening  the  Judges,  law- 
yers and  other  officers  of  the  court  prevented  any  of  the 
judges  or  lawyers  attending.  Therefore  the  court  adjourned 
till  September  term."  Governor  Tryon  his  late  excellency 
had  fled  before  the  next  term,  September  1771. 

But  the  Regulators  seized  the  books  and  what  follows  is 
the  Court  Proceedings  of  the  Regulators — 1770  September. 
Peter  Noay  vs.  E.  Fanning. 

"  Fanning  must  pay." 

John  Childs  vs.  Richard  Simpson. 

"You  keep  that  to  yourselves  to  rogue  everybody." 
Wm.  Brown  vs.  John  Brown. 

"  A  shame     *     *     * " 


46  THE    HISTORY    OF    ALAMANCE. 

Isaiah  Hogan  vs.  Harmon  Husbands. 
"  Hogan  pays  and  be  damned." 

Eziekiel  Brumfield  vs.  James  Ferrell. 
Slander. 
"Nonsense,  let  them   agree  for    Ferrell  has  gone  hell- 
wards." 

Michael  Wilson  vs.  David  Harris. 
"AH  Harris's  are  rogues." 

John  Edwards  vs.  Phillip  Edwards. 
"  Darned  shame." 

Thos.  Frammel  vs.  Win.  Dummegan. 
"  Dummegan  pays." 

Thomas  Richards  vs.  Robinson  York. 
"  Plaintiff  pays  all  costs  and  gets  his  body  scourged  for 
Blaspheming." 

Abner  Nash  vs.  John  Crooker. 
"  Nash  gets  nothing." 
Valentine   Bruswell   vs.  Dunun  McNeal,  Administrator  of 
Hector  McNeal. 
"  File  it  and  darned." 

Silas  Brown  vs.  William  Lewis. 

"The  man  was  sick  and  it  tis  darned  roguery." 

Solomon  Pernil  vs.  James  Ferril. 

Executed  on  two  negroes. 

"  Negroes  not  worth  a  damn,  cost  exceeds  the  whole." 


CHAPTER  VIIL 


THE    REGULATION    WAR. 

The  war  of  the  Regulation  has  been  regarded  as  resis- 
tance to  law  and  not  a  fight  against  oppression.  Was  it  a 
stroke  of  State?  Where  such  disturbances  occur  between 
the  ruler  and  those  ruled,  is  there  not  disease  in  the  body 
politic,  and  is  not  nature  attempting  to  purge  herself  by 
throwing  off  the  poison  ? 

The  war  of  the  Regulation  resembles  the  civil  war  in 
England  of  1642,  and  the  Regulators,  Hampdeu,  Pym  and 
that  great  rebel,  or  hero,  Cromwell;  their  grievances  were 
similar.  They  each  petitioned  for  redress  and  resorted  to 
violence  when  petition  failed.  Both  have  met  with  a  like 
fate. 

Consider  the  condition  of  affairs  at  the  time  of  the  battle 
of  Alamance.  In  1737  there  was  trouble  under  Governor 
Johnson  in  regard  to  taxes.  These  troubles  had  not  ceased 
to  exist.  There  was  a  lack  of  currency  in  the  province — 
no  gold  or  silver,  and  barely  enough  money  to  pay  taxes. 
Governor  Tryon,  like  Rheoboam,  made  the  burdens  more 
grievous.  Western  counties  were  denied  equal  rights  of 
representation.  The  capitol  was  at  Newbern.  There  was 
not  easy  communication.  To  this  the  names  of  the  rivers 
testify — Haw  River  in  the  western  section  becomes  Cape 
Fear  in  the  eastern.  So  the  time  was  peculiarly  congenial 
to  tyranny,  but  the  people  were  not  so  suited. 

The  Stamp  Act  trouble  came.  Colonels  Ashe  and  Wad- 
dell  having  called  out  the  militia  made  Tryon  prisoner  in 
his  own  house,  and  forced  the  royal  sloop  "Viper"  to  give 
up  several  vessels  it  had  seized  for  want  of  stamped  paper, 
and  to  agree  to  stop  such  seizure.  The  east  was  hit  then, 
you  know,  and  so  they  did  the  howling.  In  spite  of  slow 
communication  these  things  were  not  done  in  a  corner,  but 
had  their  influence  on  the  public  trend  of  thought. 


48  THE    HISTORY    OF    ALAMANCE. 

The  taxes,  that  ever  fruitful  source  of  war,  were  being 
increased.  Governor  Tryon's  royal  tastes  saddled  the  prov- 
ince with  a  palace  costing  fifteen  thousand  pounds  or  more. 
A  standing  army  must  be  maintained,  you  know,  in  a  new 
country  still  in  swadling  bands  and  struggling  for  exis 
tence.  In  addition  to  these  high  "lawful"  taxes  public 
officers  and  lawyers  had  exorbitant  fees. 

They  said  it  was  not  the  form  of  government  nor  the 
laws  that  they  were  quarreling  with,  but  the  malpractices  of 
the  officers  of  the  County  Court.  The  law  demanded  fif- 
teen shillings  for  their  fee  in  the  County  Court  but  the  law- 
yers exacted  thirty,  sometimes  three,  four  and  five  pounds. 

But  "  in  the  matter  of  taxes  and  government  the  Regu- 
lators not  only  made  no  opposition  to  the  payment  of  taxes 
lawfully  levied  and  honestly  applied,  but,  on  the  contrary, 
they  publicly  and  officially  declared  to  give  part  of  their 
substance  to  support  rulers  and  law." 

That  our  greviances  were  real  and  our  oppression  great 
is  shown  by  the  fact  that  so  many  people  moved  away  at 
that  time.  Fifteen  thousand  families  left  for  Tennessee 
soon  after  the  battle  of  Alamance.  In  fact  "  poor  Carolina  " 
was  like  the  house  of  Israel  in  the  time  of  Isaiah,  "from 
the  sole  of  the  foot  to  the  crown  of  the  head  without  any 
soundness,  but  wounds  and  bruised  and  putrefying  sores.1' 

In  the  controversy  of  1771,  the  principal  parties  engaged 
were  Governor  Tryon,  Colonel  Fanning,  Generals  Waddell 
and  Ashe.  Among  the  leaders  of  the  Regulators  were 
James  Hunter,  Rednap  Howell,  Thomas  Person,  Daniel 
Gillespie,  Herman  Husbands,  James  Pugh,  etc. 

Governor  William  Tryon  was  an  Englishman  by  birth 
and  a  soldier  by  profession.  He  married  Miss  Wake,  a  lady 
of  fortune,  and  held  an  office  in  the  English  army.  He 
was  well  versed  in  his  profession,  and  possessed  a  practical 
knowledge  of  its  details.  Doubtless  he  was  a  man  of  per- 
sonal courage  and  loved  war  with  its  attending  fame  and 
splendor.     That  he  received  an  appointment  as  Lieutenant 


THE    HISTORY   OF    ALAMANCE.  49 

Governor  of  North  Carolina  was  due  to  influence  at  court, 
to  his  sister,  probably — Miss  Tryon,  who  was  maid  of  honor 
to  the  Queen.  He  was  a  diplomat  as  well  as  a  soldier,  so 
while  he  quelled  the  Regulators  by  high  handed  force  he 
managed  the  Legislature  by  diplomacy.  "The  hanging  of 
the  lunatic  Few,  in  cold  blood,  and  without  any  form  of  trial, 
the  morning  after  the  battle  of  Alamance,  when  all  pre- 
tense of  resistance  was  at  an  end,  showed  both  the  cruelty 
of  the  man  and  the  dominion  Fanning  had  over  him." 
The  manner  in  which  he  ravaged  the  country  of  the  Regu- 
lators after  they  were  vanquished,  was  worthy  of  a  Cum- 
berland in  olden  times,  or  a  Sheridan  in  modern.  His 
character  as  Governor  of  New  York,  was  the  same.  They 
changed  the  name  of  the  county  called  in  his  honor — Tryon. 
Edmund  Fanning,  son  of  James  Fanning,  though  of 
Irish  descent,  was  a  native  of  Long  Island.  His  family 
was  one  of  wealth,  education  and  high  social  standing.  At 
an  early  age  he  graduated  at  Yale.  The  degree  of  Doctor 
of  Civil  Law  was  conferred  on  him  by  Oxford,  England, 
Doctor  of  Laws  by  Yale  and  Dartmouth  Colleges.  He  also 
had  a  degree  from  Harvard.  About  1760  he  was  sworn  in 
as  attorney  at  Hillsborough,  and  was  soon  af:er  appointed 
as  Register,  or  Clerk  of  Court  of  Appease  for  Orange 
County.  Later  he  became  Judge,  then  colonel  of  the  mili- 
tia of  Orange.  A  part  of  his  subsequent  life  was  spent  in 
New  York.  It  is  a  heavy  charge  against  the  Regulators 
that  thev  beat  this  man — if  he  did  not  deserve  it.  They 
also  burnt  his  house,  for  which  there  is  no  excuse  what- 
ever. The  following  lines,  a  specimen  of  Rednap  Howell's 
verse,  show  the  public  sentiment  in  regard  to  Fanning  and 
Frohock,  the  Clerk  of  the  Court  of  Rowan  : 

Says  Frohock  to  Fanning,  to  tell  the  plain  truth, 
When  I  came  to  this  country  I  was  but  a  youth. 
My  father  sent  for  me  ;  I  wan't  worth  a  cross, 
And  then  my  first  duty  was  to  steal  a  horse. 
I  quickly  got  credit  and  then  ran  away 
And  haven't  paid  for  him  to  this  very  day. 


50  THE    HISTORY    OF     ALAMANCE. 

Says  Fanning  to  Frohock,  'tis  folly  to  lie  ; 
I  rode  an  old  mare  that  was  blind  of  an  eye. 
Five  shillings  in  money  I  had  in  my  purse  ; 
My  coat  it  was  patched,  but  not  much  the  worse. 
But  now  we've  got  rich  and  its  very  well  known, 
That  we'll  do  very  well  if  they'll  let  us  alone. 

Still  other  lines,  doubtless  from  the  same  pen,  that  were 
current  as  early  as  1765,  have  come  down  to  us: 

When  Fanning  first  to  Orange  came, 

He  looked  both  pale  an  wan, 
An  old  patched  coat  upon  his  back, 

An  old  mare  he  road  on, 
Both  man  and  mare  warn't  worth  five  pounds 

As  I've  been  often  told  , 
But  by  his  civil  robberies 

He's  laced  his  coat  with  gold. 

(See  Colonial  Records,  Vol.  VII.,  page  507,  for  Fanning's 
order  "  for  some  good  double  gold  lace  for  a  hat  and  some 
narrow  double  gold  lace  for  a  jacket." ) 

The  men  who  opposed  Governor  Tryon  and  his  army 
were  the  Regulators.  It  has  been  said  that  they  were  men 
of  low  degree,  ignorant,  depraved,  violent,  lawless,  opposed 
to  all  taxes,  hostile  to  government,  without  property  or 
other  stake  in  North  Carolina,  that  they  beat  the  lawyers, 
broke  up  the  courts  and  that  they  turned  tories  after  the 
battle  of  Alamance,  that  that  battle  was  not  justifiable — as 
if  any  war  could  be — that  it  was  only  a  brash,  or  resistance 
to  law. 

From  Governor  Tryon's  point  of  view  these  Regulators 
were  rebels.  At  the  battle  of  Alamance,  after  a  desperate 
struggle,  he  extorted  from  some — not  all — the  oath  of  alle- 
giance. Tryon  had  a  special  fondness  for  administering 
that  kind  of  medicine.  To  some  it  proved  effectual.  The 
sturdy  Highlanders  never  forgot  what  they  had  sworn,  not 
to  break  a  treaty,  but  to  regard  it  holy  had  been  ground 
into  them  as  thoroughly  as  the  Jews  had  learned  the  first 
commandment. 

The  petition  the  Regulators  sent  to  the  Legislature  in 


THE   HISTORY   OF    ALAMANCE.  5 1 

1769  may  refute  some  of  the  charges  brought  against  them, 
May  not  their  lives  speak  for  the  rest?  The  end  proves  the 
work,  the  wall  how  well  the  bricks  were  laid. 

"  Of  the  forty-seven  sections  of  the  State  Constitution 
adopted  in  1776.  thirteen,  more  than  one-fourth,  are  the 
embodiment  of  reforms  sought  by  the  Regulators.  Now, 
no  man  has  dared  to  reflect  on  the  '  patriots  of  '76,'  who 
brought  to  a  glorious  end  the  struggle  the  Regulators  had 
begun  " 

The  people  of  Anson  sent  up  a  petition  in  which  they 
complained  that  while  the  province  labored  under  general 
grievances,  the  western  part  thereof  labored  under  particu- 
lar ones,  "particular  restrictions,"  which  they  claimed  the 
right  to  make  under  the  English  Bill  of  Rights.  The  peo- 
ple of  Orange  and  Rowan  in  their  petition  asked  that  acts 
be  passed — 

1.  To  disqualify  lawyers  and  clerks  from  holding  seats 
in  the  Assembly, 

2.  To  give  the  clerks  salaries,  and  to  take  away  fees. 

3.  To  confine  lawyers  to  fees  prescribed  by  law. 

4.  To  call  in  all  acting  clerks  and  to  fill  their  places 
with  gentlemen  of  property  and  intelligence,  and  insert  in 
said  act  a  clause  prohibiting  all  judges,  lawyers  or  sheriffs 
from  receiving  their  fees  before  the  suit  in  which  they  be- 
came due  was  finally  determined,  which  they  hoped  would 
prevent  the  odious  delays  in  justice,  so  destructive,  yet 
fatally  common  among  them. 

5.  To  repeal  an  act  prohibiting  dissenting  ministers  from 
celebrating  the  rites  of  matr  mony  according  to  the  forms 
prescribed  by  their  respective  churches,  a  privilege  they 
were  debarred  of  in  no  other  part  of  his  Majesty's  kingdom, 
and  a  privilege  they  stand  entitled  to  by  the  Act  of  Tolera- 
tion, and,  in  fact  a  privilege  granted  to  the  very  Catholics 
in  Ireland  and  the  Protestants  in  France. 

6.  To  divide  the  province  into  proper  districts  for  the 
collection  of  taxes. 


52  THE    HISTORY    OF    ALAMANCE. 

7.  To  tax  every  one  in  proportion  to  his  estates ;  that 
however  equitable  the  law  as  it  then  seemed  might  appear 
to  the  inhabitants  of  the  maritime  ports  of  the  province, 
where  estates  consisted  chiefly  of  slaves,  yet  to  them  on  the 
frontier,  where  very  few  owned  slaves,  though  their  estates 
were  in  proportion  in  many  instances  as  a  thousand  to  one, 
for  all  to  pay  equal  was  very  grievous  and  oppressive. 

8.  To  repeal  the  Summons  and  Petition  Act,  which  was 
replete  with  misery  and  ruin  to  the  lowest  class  of  people 
in  the  province,  and  in  lieu  thereof  to  pass  an  act  to  em- 
power a  single  magistrate  to  determine  all  actions  for  less 
than  five  or  six  pounds,  without  appeal,  to  be  assisted,  how- 
ever, by  a  jury  of  six  men,  if  demanded  by  either  party. 

9.  To  make  inspection  notes  on  imperishable  commodi- 
ties of  the  produce  of  this  province  lawful  tender,  at  stated 
prices,  in  all  payments  throughout  the  province. 

10.  To  divide  the  county. 

11.  To  make  certain  staples  of  manufacture  to  answer 
foreign  demands. 

12.  To  ascertain  what  taxes  were  collected  in  1767,  by 
whom,  and  to  what  purpose  they  were  applied  specially, 
and  look  into  the  matter  of  taxes  generally.  This  was 
done  in  view  of  the  belief  that  ,£27,000  were  collected 
more  than  was  due. 

13.  To  provide  that  the  yeas  and  nays  should  be  inserted 
in  the  journals  of  the  Assembly,  and  that  copies  of  the 
journals  be  sent  to  every  magistrate. 

If  these  things  were  done  the  petitioners  said  they  would 
"  heal  the  bleeding  wounds  of  the  province  ;  would  concil- 
iate the  minds  of  the  poor  petitioners  to  every  just  measure 
of  government ;  would  make  the  laws  what  the  Constitu- 
tion ever  designed  they  should  be,  their  protection  and  not 
their  bane,  and  would  cause  joy,  gladness,  glee  and  pros- 
perity diffusively  to  spread  themselves  through  every  quar- 
ter of  this  extensive  province,  from  Virginia  to  the  south, 
and  from  the  western  bills  to  the  great  Atlantic  ocean." 


THE    HISTORY    OF    ALAMANCE.  53 

These  petitions  contain  the  complaints  of  the  Regula- 
tors, couched  in  their  own  language.  Were  they  ignorant 
men?     Did  they  lack  patriotism ?     Did  they  hate  law ? 

Among  the  Regu^tors  Rednap  Howell  was  "the  master 
spirit  that  controlled  the  movement."  Tryon  so  regarded 
him.  This  staunch  Regulator's  u  plans  were  far-reaching, 
his  aims  for  redress  of  oppression  were  far  advanced."  He 
was  one  of  the  committee  that  presented  the  petition  of  May, 
176S.  He  helped  to  break  up  those  farces  called  courts 
where  justice  was  being  profaned.  He  came  from  New 
Jersey,  settled  in  Chatham  county,  where  he  taught  school. 
He  was  a  writer  of  songs  and  popular  doggerel,  a  powerful 
engine  for  arousing  the  people  "  Upon  him,  as  upon  Per- 
son, there  was  not  a  taint  of  cowardice  or  spot  or  blemish 
whatever." 

Thomas  Person  was  one  of  the  most  remarkable  men  of 
his  time,  an  earlier,  more  adroit,  courageous  and  successful 
reformer  than  Husbands.  He  was  a  Church  of  England 
man,  a  friend  of  education,  a  man  of  strong  sense,  a  large 
owner  of  estates,  of  the  highest  social  position,  and  as  his 
subsequent  career  proved,  one  of  the  staunchest  and  most 
devoted  patriots  this  or  any  other  province  possessed  during 
the  Revolution  He  was  surveyor  for  Lord  Granville,  rep- 
resented his  county  in  the  Assembly,  first  in  1766,  and 
succeeding.  He  was  member  of  every  Provincial  Congress 
from  the  beginning  of  the  Revolution  to  the  end.  Person 
county  is  named  in  his  honor,  also  the  oldest  building  at~~~ 
the  University  is  Person  Hall,  called  so  in  grateful  com- 
memoration of  his  munificent  liberality  to  that  institution. 
This  man  was  certainly  a  Regulator,  and  North  Carolina 
holds  in  her  bosom  the  bones  of  no  truer  patriot  and 
statesman. 

Let  us  consider  James  Hunter,  since  he  was  an  Ala- 
mance county  man,  and  his  posterity  are  still  among  us. 
Mr.  Robert  Hunter,  his  grandson,  lives  now  near  the 
old  Hunter  home,  also  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  Regu- 


54  THE    HISTORY    OF    ALAMANCE. 

lator  Butler — Swepsonville.  James  Hunter,  of  Orange, 
was  a  man  of  some  prosperity.  He  was  at  one  time 
a  member  of  one  of  Dr.  Caldwell's  congregations,  but 
subsequently  withdrew  from  it  because  he  thought  the  Doc- 
tor was  not  sufficiently  enthusiastic  in  the  cause  of  the  Reg- 
ulators. His  iafluence  and  his  consequence  were  such  that 
on  the  morning  of  the  battle  the  Regulators  asked  him  to 
take  chief  command  on  the  field.  He  refused  to  do  so, 
saying  that  "  they  were  all  free  men  and  every  one  must 
command  himself."  He  was  a  man  of  good  mind  natu- 
rally, moral  in  his  deportment,  very  ardent  in  his  tempera- 
ment and  enthusiastic  in  whatever  he  undertook,  and  with- 
out suspicion  as  to  his  courage.  This  was  the  man  who 
went  with  Howell  to  Brunswick  to  deliver  to  Tryon  the 
paper  of  21st  of  May,  1768,  and  who,  at  September  court, 
1770,  presented  to  Judge  Henderson  the  bold  petition  of 
that  date,  and  who,  with  Howell,  afterwards  broke  up  the 
court,  and  who  again  in  March,  177 1,  was  present,  ready 
to  break  it  up  if  held  ;  and  it  was  to  him  that  Howell's 
memorable  intercepted  letter  of  16th  February,  1771,  was 
addressed.  These  things  made  him  one  of  the  "  worst " 
and  most  "lawless"  Regulators. 


CHAPTER  IX. 


HERMAN    HUSBANDS. 

Herman  Husbands  was  a  prominent  Regulator.  He  was 
also  a  respectable  planter,  legislator,  leader  of  men,  and  had 
been  a  Quaker  preacher.  He  was  said  to  have  beeu  a  rela- 
tive of  Benj_unin  Franklin.  They  carried  on  a  correspond- 
ence while  Husbands  was  in  North  Carolina. 

There  has  been  some  misunderstanding  about  the  man 
though  all  agree  that  he  would  not  fight. 

After  the  battle  of  Alamance  Tryon  encamp;d  at  the 
home  of  Husbands  at  S~ndy  Creek  triumphantly.  But  he 
was  not  a  Quaker.  Dr.  Weeks  in  his  History  of  the  South- 
ern Quakers  says  : 

"  The  Quakers  were  not  Regulators.  But  there  were,  of 
course,  individual  Quakers  who  took  part  in  the  Regula- 
tion ;  many  more,  no  doubt,  sympathized  with  the  princi- 
ples advocated  ;  but  no  complicity  with  the  events  of  1766— 
71."  Husbands  had  been  disowned  by  the  society  but  not 
for  immoralitv  as  Governor  Tryon  states. 

"  Husbands  was  born  Ojtober  3,  1724,  in  all  probability 
in  Cecil  County  Maryland.  His  grandfather  Wm.  Hus- 
bands made  a  will  March  25,  1717.  He  writes  himself  as 
of  Sissil  County,  Maryland.  He  had  cattle,  "  hog^s  and 
sheap"  and  negroes,  and  speaks  of  the  'iron  works  that 
belong  to  me'.  He  had  a  good  deal  of  land  besides  Wil- 
liam the  father  of  Herman,  was  also  of  "  Cecil  County 
Maryland." 

"His  will  was  probated  March  10th,  1768  He  also  had 
negro ;S  and  was  not  a  Quaker.  His  son  Joseph  born  Feb- 
ruary 15,  1736  (37),  was  the  first  of  the  family  to  turn 
Quaker.     His  convincement  influenced  Herman. 

In  east  Notingham,  Maryland,  Herman  became  a  promi- 
nent man  among  the  Quakers. 


56  THE    HISTORY    OF     ALAMANCE. 

He  once  got  a  certificate  to  visit  Barbadoes.  He  was 
first  in  North  Carolina,  1751,  when  he  removed  to  Cower's 
Creek  monthly  meeting  in  Bladen  Counts  On  November 
*ist,  1755,  he  presented  a  certificate  to  Cane  Creek  monthly 
meeting  which  was  accepted. 

To  quote  from  the  Cane  Creek  minute  book  :  "  Whereas 
Herman  Husbands  of  Orange  County,  in  the  province  of 
Nonh  Carolina  and  Mary  Pugh  of  said  County  and  prov- 
ince, having  declared  their  intention  of  marriage  with  each 
other  before  several  monthly  meetings  of  the  people  called 
Quakers  at  Cane  Creek  according  to  good  ordet,  used  them, 
having  consent  of  parents  concerned.  Their  said  proposal 
of  marriage  was  then  allowed  by  the  said  meeting. 

7th  of  1st  month,  1764,  "Herman  Husoan^s  being  com- 
plained of  for  being  guilty  of  making  remarks  on  the  ac- 
tions and  transactions  of  this  meeting  as  well  as  elsewhere 
as  his  mind,  and  publicly  advertising  the  same,  and  after 
due  labor  with  him  in  order  to  show  him  the  evil  of  his 
doing,  this  meeting  agrees  to  disown  him  as  also  to  publish 
the  testimony." 

The  cause  of  his  disownment  was  as  follows : 

There  had  been  trouble  about  granting  a  certificate  to 
one  Rachael  Wright.  Herman  Husband  (he  spelt  his  name 
several  v>  ays)  had  '  spoken  his  mind  too  freely."  Whereupon 
the  yearly  meeting  gave  the  following  advice:  That  the  quar- 
terly meeting  did  not  act  safe  in  giving  Rachael  Wright  a 
certificate  if  the  same  were  to  be  carried  into  a  precedent 
and  that  all  who  signed  a  dissenting  minute  showing  a  dis- 
like to  Herman  Husband's  being  discharged  gave  just  cause 
of  blame." 

Herman  Husbands  was  something  of  an  author.  He  has 
a  work  on  religion,  with  the  author's  experience  ''simply 
delivered  without  the  help  of  school  words  or  dress  of  learn- 
ing, written  about  1750,"  in  the  Library  Company  Philadel- 
phia. 

From   his  character  as  a  Quaker,  it  is  evident,  that  he 

*  From  Minutes  of  Cane  Creek  Monthly  Meeting. 


THE    HISTORY    OF    ALAMANCE.  57 

was  a  man  who  spoke  fearlessly,  from  his  having  a  book  in 
the  Library  Company,  and  from  his  handbook  of  the  Reg- 
ulators it  is  ascertained  that  he  was  a  man  not  devoid  of 
learning. 

The  records  of  the  Quakers  show  that  they  vindicated 
his  opinion  in  regard  to  the  Rachael  Wright  case.  There- 
fore he  must  have  been  a  man  of  5ense. 

But  he  became  involved  in  the  Whiskey  Insuirection  in 
Pennsylvania  and  didn't  stay  to  see  the  fray. 
"  For  he  who  fights  and  runs  away 
Had  lived  to  fight  another  day." 

Dr.  Benj.  Franklin,  Dr.  Benj.  Rush  and  our  Dr.  David 
Caldwell  helped  him  out  of  his  trouble  there. 

If  property  be  any  basis  from  which  to  judge  a  man,  he 
had  a  respectable  home  in  the  Sandy  Creek  neighborhood. 
He  also  held  the  following  : 

"  Indenture  made  the  fourth  day  of  November,  1755,  be- 
tween Wm.  Christan,  of  the  County  of  Orange,  in  the  prov- 
ince of  North  Carolina,  gentleman  of  the  one  part,  and 
Harmon  Husbands,  of  the  county  and  province  aforesaid, 
of  ^he  other  part,  for  30  shillings  lawful  money  of  Great 
Britain,  a  lot  of  land  lying  on  the  Eno  River,  containing 
two  acres,  more  or  less,  and  bounded  in  an  angle  by  two 
streets  and  the  river,  lying  and  being  in  Corbinton.  The 
rent  was  to  be  one  shilling  yearly  ''and  further  that  he  the 
said  Harmon  Husbands  build  within  two  years  a  habitable 
House  of  stone,  brick,  square,  loggs,  dove  tailed  or  frame 
and  shingled,  not  less  than  twenty  feet  in  length  and  six- 
teen ft.  wide.  If  the  rent  was  not  paid  in  21  days  at  least, 
after  due,  and  that  house  not  built  and  every  other  rule 
complied  with,  this  grant  and  assignment  shall  be  void  " 

From  his  home  in  Sandy  Grove  to  Hillsboro  (Corbinton,* 
or  new  town  Corbin,)  he  made  a  road  called  the  "  Herman 
Road."  Mt.  Herman,  or  Mt.  Harmon,  Church  is  named 
for  him. 

Why  was  he  not  at  the  battle  of  Alamance  ?     He  helped 


58  THE    HISTORY    OF    ALAMANCE. 

to  bring  it  about,  probably  only  expressing  the  will  of  that 
grand  old  man — Benjamin  Franklin.  It  may  be,  then, 
that  Husbands  did  not  foresee  righting.  But  we  have  no 
right  to  judge  him  unless  we  knew  his  motives  then.  That 
he  was  a  Quaker  was  not  the  cause  of  his  not  righting,  for, 
you  see,  he  was  not  a  Quaker. 

The  Regulator  James  Pugh  was  his  brother-in-law,  and 
had  valor  enough  for  two  men. 

Thomas,  James  and  Will  Pugh,  of  Saxapahaw,  are  de- 
scendants of  Husbands  through  their  mother,  whose  father 
was  Thos.  Allen. 

Husbands  was  for  many  years  a  member  of  the  Pennsyl- 
vania legislature.  Dr.  David  Caldwell  believed  him  to 
have  been  honest  in  his  intentions. 

He  was  a  man  of  philosophic  nature;  without  the  great 
will  power  of  a  soldier  or  general.  The  philosophers  stir  up 
strife,  but  soldiers  are  the  men  of  action.  Now  a  philoso- 
pher could  see  at  once  that  Tryon's  army  of  well-drilled 
soldiers  could  put  to  flight  a  triple  number  of  farmers  and 
blacksmiths  armed  with  pitchforks,  hoes,  shotguns — any- 
thing and  everything.  So  Herman  Husbands  left  the  field. 
To  stay  wouW  mean  certain  death  to  him  first  of  all.  His 
cause  gained  at  the  last. 

Every  beginning  is  hard.  The  beginning  of  the  Revo- 
lutionary war  was  not  an  easy  matter.  But  it  began  on 
the  plains  of  Alamance.  That  battle  raised  the  metal  of 
the  men  who  made  the  Mecklenburg  Declaration.  It  stirred 
the  soul  of  William  Hooper,  North  Carolina's  signer  of  the 
Declaration  of  Independence  of  1776.  The  evils  existed 
right  here  in  Alamance  that  called  forth  the  War  of  the  Rev- 
olution ;  here,  also,  began  the  resistance.  It  is  the  natural 
way  of  beginning  revolutions 

"  It  is  true,  indeed,  that  in  the  beginning  we  aimed  not 
at  independence.'"  But  there  was  a  divinitv  that  shaped 
our  destiny,  and  the  Regulators  began  the  Revolutionary 
War.     Give  Benjamin  Franklin  the  credit  for  the  War  of 


THE    HISTORY   OF    ALAMANCE.  59 

the  Regulation.  He  was  too  intimate  with  the  leaders  of 
the  Regulators  to  go  free  from  that  charge.  He  was  con- 
tinually sending  messages  to  Herman  Husbands.  He  was 
a  dynamo  of  the  Revolution.  Through  Herman  Husbands 
he  applied  the  torch  that  at  last  burnt  up  the  system  of 
English  domination. 

Rev.  John  E.  White  says  the  Baptists  were  Regulators. 
So  were  the  Presbyterians — always  good  fighters  as  well  as 
good  thinkers — and  every  member  of  the  German- Reform 
Church,  Stoners.  Lord  Chatham  knew  the  cause  of  the 
strife,  and  recognized  it  in  the  English  Parliament,  and  we 
revere  the  memory  of  those  who  bore  the  brunt  of  that  be- 
ginning— the  hard  beginning  of  the  glorious  strife  for 
American  liberty. 

James  Pugh,  another  Regulator,  a*  brother-in-law  of  Hus- 
bands, was  a  gunsmith  and  mended  many  guns  for  the 
Regulator-?  prior  to  the  battle.  He  was  a  good  soldier, 
wounding  many  of  Tryon's  men  and  escaping  their  bullets. 
However,  he  was  taken  as  a  prisoner  and  hung  as  a  rebel. 
When  on  the  scaffold  for  execution  he  made  a  speech,  ad- 
dressing the  people  for  half  an  hour,  declaring  that  he  had 
long  been  prepared  to  meet  his  God  in  another  world;  that 
he  had  no  regrets  to  express  for  what  he  had  done  in  the 
matter  of  the  Regulation,  and  that  his  blood  would  be  as 
good  seed  sown  on  good  ground,  which  would  soon  produce 
a  hundred  fold.  He  then  recounted  the  causes  that  led  to 
the  late  conflict ;  asserted  that  the  Regulators  had  taken 
the  life  of  no  man  previous  to  the  battle ;  that  they  had 
aimed  at  nothing  but  a  redress  of  grievances  ;  that  Tryon 
had  come  there  to  murder  the  people  instead  of  taking  sides 
with  them  against  a  set  of  dishonest  office-holders,  and  ad- 
vised him  to  put  away  his  CDrrupt  clerks  and  tax  gatherers, 
mentioning  Fanning  by  name  as  one  unfit  for  office.  There- 
upon Fanning  had  the  trigger  pulled  and  a  patriot  and  seer 
swung  out  between  the  heavens  and  the  earth — a  lifeless 
corpse. 


60  THE    HISTORY    OF    ALAMANCE. 

Be  it  said  to  the  credit  of  the  Regulators,  their  meetings 
were  to  be  held  orderly,  and  where  there  was  no  -whiskey 
sold.  This  clause  they  frequently  repeated.  They  knew 
of  the  criticism  that  would  come.  In  that  alone  they  were 
a  long  ways  ahead  of  their  time.  It  shows  their  soberness 
and  careful  deliberation. 

Just  what  the  result  would  have  been  if  the  Regulators 
had  gained  the  battle  of  Alamance,  cannot  be  thought.  The 
other  provinces  were  not  yet  quite  ripe  for  ievc  lution.  The 
critical  period  comes  when  the  victories  substquent  to  the 
work  on  the  battlefield  are  being  contested.  The  most  try- 
ing time  of  America  was  just  after  the  colonies  had  thrown 
off  British  dominion.  The  structure  of  our  Commonwealth 
might  have  been  a  gossamer  fabric  —  and  Ameiican 
heroes  rebels  and  Washington  an  outlaw — had  not  the 
foundations  been  laid  deep  and  strong.  But  we  had  the 
men  ;  so  all  is  changed.  Our  government  rests  its  massive 
pillars  on  such  men  as  Jefferson,  Franklin,  Chief  Justice 
Marshall,  Alexander  Hamilton  and  James  Monroe.  Thanks 
to  the  wave  of  influence  set  in  motion  by  cur  Regulators. 
It  extends  and  widens  and  touches  every  shore. 


CHAPTER  X. 


THE   BATTLE   OF   ALAMANCE. 

From  1735  the  state  of  affairs  had  been  growing  worse. 
Bad  laws  are  worse  than  no  laws  and  the  people  of  Orange 
and  their  neighbors  suffered  grievous  oppression.  Not  only 
on  account  of  the  extortions  of  Granville's  land  agents — 
which  were  enough  cause  of  complaint — but  Fanning  at 
Hillsboro  was  charging  three  times  and  more,  the  amount 
of  fees  the  law  allowed  ;  for  a  minutes'  copying  he  was  ac- 
customed to  charge  as  much  as  a  farmer  could  possibly 
earn  in  a  day  ;  for  a  marriage  license  he  got  fifteen  dollars. 

The  plain  middle  class  of  people  hated  him  for  his  bigo- 
try. Holding  that  obedience  to  tyrants  is  a  sin  against 
humanity,  this  class  set  themselves  to  regulate  the  com- 
monwealth into  a  healthier  condition. 

The  great  middle  class  has  always  been  the  element  of 
progress,  the  aggressive  Whigs  held  on  to  the  idea  of 
making  wrong  get  right.  They  become  the  aristocracy 
after  every  revolution.  This  class  is  a  trinity — executive, 
legislative  and  judicial. 

Looking  at  the  situation  in  its  entirety  it  was  perfectly 
natural  that  the  sturdy  middle  class,  with  honorable  char- 
acter, respectable  homes  and  working  hard  for  everything 
they  got,  looked  on  with  critical  eye,  thought  as  well  as 
looked,  and  gave  their  energy  to  mend  the  matter.  If  there 
had  been  among  them  one  great  leader  the  history  of 
America  would  have  run  in  a  different  channel.  The  colo- 
nies were  not  yet  ripe  for  revolution ;  that  troublesome 
"tea  party  "  was  not  yet  in  Boston. 

The  Regulation  Meetings  became  numerous.  This  ag- 
gravated the  Royal  Governor  whom  the  Indians  had  given 
an  appropriate  cognomen — the  Great  Wolf  of  North  Caro- 
lina.    And  indeed  two  thousand  offended  farmers  ensconced 


62  THE    HISTORY    OF    ALAMANCE. 

around  a  little  nest  full  of  oppressors  like  Hillsboro,  was 
enough  to  attract  the  scent  of  the  Wolf. 

Fanning,  his  friend  and  little  moon  revolving  round  him, 
had  been,  you  know,  insulted  out  of  reason.  For  once  at 
Mattock's  Mill,  west  of  Hillsboro,  their  special  rendezvous, 
he  had  walked  out  to  make  peace  when  he  had,  in  his  heart, 
no  peace,  carrying  in  each  hand  wine  and  whiskey  to  steal 
away  their  good  repute.  He  called  out  to  them  to  help 
him  over  the  creek  between,  and  was  bidden  to  wade  if  he 
would  cross,  which  he  did  and  for  all  that,  met  with  no 
pleasant  welcome. 

Fanning  began  to  feel  that  he  might  get  the  bad  end  of 
their  bargaining.  But  Tryon,  his  friend,  was  coming  on 
the  scene  with  eleven  hundred  strong.  As  Fanning  was 
revengeful,  spiteful,  so  Tryon  was  diplomatic,  loving  a  sold- 
ier's life — ready  to  play  in  hand  his  people  and  his  prey. 

The  Great  Wolf  of  North  Carolina  collected  from  her 
eastern  borders  eleven  hundred  men,  drilled  for  war,  not 
having  as  yet  a  chance  to  win  their  spurs  and  pluck  mili- 
tary laurels. 

Eager  to  stamp  out  the  Regulators  he  sent  Col.  Wadrlell 
with  his  regiment  across  the  Yadkin,  there  to  await  for 
Tryon  about  Salisbury.  Cols.  Fanning  and  Richard  Cas- 
well joined  their  soldier- governor  before  he  crossed  Haw 
River,  and  his  army  kept  increasing  like  a  snowball  rolling 
on  ;  men  joined  it  either  for  diplomacy  or  because  of  the 
attractions  of  military  paraphernalia. 

Tryon  knew  the  road  for  at  the  head  of  a  host,  as  a  sur- 
veying party  he  had  passed  that  way,  showing  off  with 
great  pride  his  royal  personage  to  the  Indians. 

Crossing  Haw  River  at  Woody's  Ferry  he  encamped  on 
the  banks  of  the  great  Alamance  May  14,  1 771.  The 
Regulators  were  come  already  with  their  requests  and  ex- 
pecting reconciliation.  Tryon  ordered  one-third  of  his 
army  to  remain  under  arms  the  whole  night,  to  be  relieved 
every  two  hours;  the  same  was  done  the  next  night;  but 


THE    HISTORY    OF    ALAMANCE.  63 

with  additional  precaution.  The  cavalry  were  to  keep  their 
horses  saddled  during  the  night,  and  a  guard  of  ten  men 
about  half  a  mile  in  front  towards  the  Regulators. 

Tryon  knew  his  situation  was  critical.  He  was  in  the 
enemy's  territory.  Their  forces  were  gathering  like  wild 
bees  from  the  forests.  The  men  of  Dublin  and  elsewhere 
were  nobly  refusing  to  fight  them. 

The  two  armies  were  encamped  on  the  night  of  the  fif- 
teenth, within  five  or  six  miles  of  each  other;  the  Regula- 
tors near  the  battle  field. 

On  the  morning  of  the  sixteenth  Tryon's  army  was 
marching  by  daybreak.  In  silence  they  marched,  leaving 
their  tents  and  baggage  in  charge  of  Col.  Bryan. 

It  is  said  that  Tryon's  men  numbered  eleven  hundred 
regular  soldiers  while  the  Regulators  could  not  have  had 
over  a  thousand  bearing  arms  at  all  suitable  to  the  occasion  ; 
a  great  many  were  there  not  expecting  to  have  any  use  for 
arms.  Some  did  not  take  their  weapons  because  th«  y  feared 
the  governor  would  not  treat  with  them  if  they  had  guns. 
Many  went  to  see  the  outcome.  Dr.  Caldwell  was  requested 
by  the  Regulators  to  be  present  to  make  a  reconciliation. 
He  had  interviews  with  Tryon  to  no  result. 

Colonels  Ashe  and  Walker  happened  out  of  camp  and 
were  taken  prisoners  by  the  Regulators.  They  were  tied 
to  trees  and  whipped  with  switches.  Capt.  S.  A.  Ashe  says 
his  ancestor  hated  the  Regulators  very  much  when  they 
began  to  switch  him,  but  he  respected  them  when  he  saw 
and  felt  them  doing  a  good  job  of  it,  and  at  length  he  fell 
in  love  with  them. 

Tryon  had  taken  seven  Regulators.  He  tried  to  ex- 
change prisoners,  but  it  was  not  accomplished. 

On  the  field  of  battle  Tryon  had  his  men  arraigned  ac- 
cording to  military  skill,  himself  in  the  centre  with  the 
two  wings  commanded  by  Richard  Caswell  and  Edmund 
Fanning.  It  must  have  been  humiliating  to  trained  war- 
riors to  fight  men  without  discipline,  with  no  leader  and 
no  regularity. 


64  THE    HISTORY   OF    ALAMANCE. 

One  with  the  sense  of  injury,  the  other  in  a  state  of  re- 
venge, they  met,  the  governor  demanding  immediate  sub- 
mission and  a  promise  to  pay  their  taxes  ;  the  Regulators 
presenting  petitions  for  the  vindication  of  right.  Tryon 
marched  up  within  three  hundred  yards  of  the  Regulators, 
who,  waving  their  hats,  challenged  him  to  advance.  Tryon 
gave  them  an  hour  to  disperse. 

But  the  opposing  forces  maTched  in  silence  till  they  met 
almost  breast  to  breast.  The  first  rank  of  the  governor's 
men  almost  mixed  with  those  of  the  Regulators.  They 
quarreled  and  shook  their  fists  in  defiance. 

Herman  Husbands  was  just  riding  away  to  shun  the  fight. 
Some  young  men  were  still  wrestling  and  playing.  Dr. 
Caldwell,  riding  up  in  front,  harangued  the  people,  saying: 
"Gentlemen  and  Regulators:  Those  of  you  who  are  not 
too  far  committed  should  desist  and  quietly  return  to  your 
homes  ;  those  who  have  laid  themselves  liable  should  sub- 
mit without  further  resistance.  I  and  others  promise  to 
obtain  for  you  the  best  terms  possible.  Wait  until  circum- 
stances aie  more  favorable.  The  governor  will  yield  noth- 
ing. You  are  unprepared  for  battle.  You  have  no  can- 
non, not  much  ammunition.  You  are  not  trained  for  war! 
You  have  no  officers  to  command  you  !  You  will  be  de- 
feated !  "     *     *     * 

"  Hold,  Dr.,"  said  Patrick  Muller,  an  old  Scotch  soldier, 
"Go  away  yourself  or  Tryon's  men  will  kill  you  in  three 
minutes." 

The  fight  had  already  begun.  Tryon  drawing  his  pistol 
shot  with  his  own  hand  Robert  Thompson — the  first  man 
killed  in  the  war.  Thompson  was  unarmed  and  the  Gov- 
ernor's killing  him  before  giving  the  signal  to  fire  was 
murder. 

It  was  noon  when  fighting  began.  The  Governor's  aid 
came  forward  and  read  a  proclamation.  The  Regulators 
asked  an  hour  in  which  to  reply.     The  messenger  wheeled 


THE    HISTORY   OF    ALAMANCE.  65 

his  horse,  and  the  firing  immediately  began  on  the  part  of 
Tryon.  It  was  citizen  against  citizen,  no  wonder  some 
were  reluctant.  Tryon,  handsome  and  commanding  in  ap- 
pearance, rising  in  his  stirrups,  cried,  "Fire — fire  on  them 
or  fire  on  me!"  "  Fire — fire  and  be  d — d  !"  said  a  Regu- 
lator. 

The  first  volley  of  Tryon's  men  struck  the  ground  in 
front  of  the  enemy.  One  of  his  men  called  out  "  I  told  you 
you  aimed  too  low."     The  next  went  over  their  heads. 

At  first  the  Regulators  were  getting  the  better  of  the 
day — keeping  up  an  irregular  fire  from  behind  tnes.  The 
other  side  fired  regularly  by  j  latoons. 

Presently  a  flag  was  seen  advancing  from  Tiyon'ssideof 
the  field.  What  this  meant  nobody  knew,  but  the  old 
Scotchman  called  out  "It  is  a  flag — a  flag,  do'nt  fire!" 
But  shots  were  fired  and  the  flag  fell.  Then  redoubled 
came  the  volleys  from  the  official  field.  They  fired  and 
fell  back  about  one  hundred  yards,  leaving  their  cannon 
in  the  center  of  the  field.  Two  Regulators — MacPherson 
brothers — rushed  up  and  seized  them. 

When  the  smoke  had  cleared  away  from  that  tremendous 
volley,  the  royalists  saw  only  a  scattered  band  of  men. 
They  had  dispersed  like  sheep  on  a  hillside  after  a  hurri- 
cane, or  like  the  snow  drifts  of  winter  after  a  thawing  rain. 

They  had  nothing  to  hold  them  in  play,  no  general  to 
marshall  them  anew  for  the  fray.  Mongomery,  the  cap- 
tain of  a  troop  of  mountain  boys,  was  the  principal  com- 
mander. 

That  day  Americans  learned  a  valuable  lesson  on  dis- 
cipline. 

Behind  a  ledge  of  rocks  one  lay  and  killed  seventeen 
men.  That  was  Pugh.  He  was  hung.  In  a  previous 
chapter  is  given  an  account  of  his  death. 

Herman  Husbands,  Butler,  James  Hunter,  Ninian  Bell 
Hamilton  (a  scotch  captain  eighty  years  old)  were  out- 
lawed. A  lunatic  named  Few  was  hung  on  the  field. 
5 


66  THE    HISTORY    OF    ALAMANCE. 

Capt.  Merrell  was  sentenced  to  be  hung  but  his  wife  and 
son  came  to  beg  for  his  life. 

The  woman  lay  on  the  ground  moaning  in  distress.  The 
boy,  a  lad  of  twelve  was  trying  to  comfort  her.  Suddenly 
he  walked  up  to  the  Great  Wolf  of  North  Carolina  saying: 
"Governor  Tryon,  please  hang  me  instead  of  father.'1 
Tryon  in  astonishment  asked  "who  sent  you  to  me?" 
'  nobody,  sir,  but  if  you  hang  father  the  children  and  mother 
will  starve." 

Tryon  promised  his  father's  life  for  that  of  Herman  Hus- 
bands who  did  not  choose  to  save  him.  They  hung  the 
father,  Captain  Merrell — a  pious  man  who  died  with  the 
resignation  of  a  christian. 

How  many  were  killed  is  not  known.  Tryon  said  his 
killed  and  wounded  amounted  to  near  seventy,  the  enemy, 
he  said,  lost  two  or  three  hundred.  Other  accounts  say  the 
Regulators  lost  a  dozen  or  more  and  Tryon  two  or  three 
times  as  many.  Tryon  ordered  a  Court  of  Oyer  and  Ter- 
miner to  meet  and  adjourn  from  day  to  day  at  Hillsboro 
until  he  arrived  with  the  prisoners.  Both  Waddell  and 
Fanning  were  instructed  to  secure  flour  for  the  army. 


CHAPTER  XI. 


TRYON'S    PROCLAMATION. 

"  Whereas,  Herman  Husbands,  James  Hunter.  Rednap 
Howell  and  William  Butler*  are  outlawed  and  liable  to  be 
shot  by  any  person  whatever,  I  do  therefore,  that  they  may 
be  punished  for  the  Traiterous  and  Rebellious  Crimes  they 
have  committed,  issue  this  my  Proclamation  hereby  offer- 
ing a  Reward  of  one  hundred  pounds  and  one  thousand 
acres  of  land  to  any  person  or  persons  who  will  take  dead 
or  alive  and  bring  into  mine  or  General  Waddell's  Camp 
either  and  each  of  the  above  named  outlaws." 

u  Given  under  my  hand  and  the  great  seal  of  the  said 
province  at  Bathabara  this  ninth  day  of  June  in  the  year 
of  our  Lord  1771. 

"Signed  Wm,  Tryon. 

"By  His  Excellency's  command, 

"Js.  Edwards,  P.  Sec?'' 

What  were  the  effects  of  the  War  of  the  Regulation, 
since  every  act  has  its  influence  and  every  cause  its  conse- 
quence? Did  the  Regulators  hasten  or  delay  their  deliver- 
ance? Did  they  suffer  unmeted  punishments?  Were  they 
subdued  into  cowed  submission  or  were  they  not  finally 
vindicated? 

Though  some  took  the  test  oath  becoming  loyal  to  King 
George,  some  took  it  and  remained  neutral ;  more  took  it 
refraining  themselves  from  fighting  but  making  up  for  it 
in  helping  others,  as  did  old  Mr.  Moser,  on  the  Great  Ala- 
mance, who  encouraged  his  six  or  seven  sons  to  be  "  Whigs 
of  the  Revolution."  Some  of  the  Regulators  who  had 
sworn  to  Tryon  took  Dr.  Caldwell's  advice  and  considered 
their  oath  a  broken  contract.  Others  there  were  who  did 
not  take  it — as  Jas.  Hunter,  But'er,  Wm.  Trousdale,  etc. 

*Gen.  Butler  of  the  Battle  of  Guilford  Court  House.  His  home  was  at 
.Swepsonville,  Alamance  county,  N.  C. 


68  THE    HISTORY    OF    ALAMANCE. 

These  were  the  immediate  results,  but  were  there  none 
further  reaching? 

In  those  days  a  thous  md  men  and  more  banded  for  a 
purpose  against  a  common  wrong  were  not  without  influ- 
ence. Because  of  hardships  sustained  and  their  hopes  of 
the  Regulators  not  realized,  fifteen  thousand  people  moved 
to  Tennessee,  prefering  the  western  wilds  to  oppression  in 
their  homes.  Many  went  in  a  band  from  this  section. 
The  battle  of  Alamance  was  in  May,  1771  ;  before  Septem- 
ber Tryon  was  gone. 

After  the  battle  Tryon  remained  in  the  neighborhood  of 
the  Great  Alamance  and  S^ndy  Creek  for  a  week  or  moTe. 
Then  he  marched  through  the  beautiful  country  of  the  Yad- 
kin to  meet  Waddell  at  Salisbury  that  together  they  might 
intimidate  the  people  and  force  them  to  respect  the  author- 
ity of  North  Carolina. 

But  unaware  was  he  that  this  was  only  stirring  up  ani- 
mosity and  charging  with  vengeance  such  troops  of  men  as 
first  organized  the  Black  Boys  of  Mecklenburg  and  Con- 
cord Hornet's  Nest.  The  blood  of  the  Regulation  was  the 
seed  of  the  Mecklenburg  Declaration. 

Tryon  and  Farming  sowed  the  "  Dragon's  teeth "  that 
yielded  a  harvest  manifold  and  bitter  strife  of  Whigs  and 
Tories  that  has  not  yet  died  out  of  the  blood  of  the  people 
of  Alamance. 

Sometimes  a  burning  emotion  held  in  check  will  ripen 
to  a  perfect  fruitage.  It  was  but  uatural  that  the  Battle  of 
Alamance  caused  Mecklenburg  to  reason  within  herself. 
We  were  not  too  far  away,  you  see,  to  excite  her  sympathy. 

The  war  of  the  Regulation  ripened  North  Carolina  for 
the  coming  stupendous  change  in  which  her  people  would 
fight  with  Massachusetts  for  the  second  Magna  Charta.  This 
was  not  the  first  time  this  people  had  revolted  (for  the  same 
blood  had  fought  at  Runnymede),  yet  this  was  the  first  les- 
son in  the  history  of  a  new  nation — that  of  the  United 
States  of  America. 


CHAPTER  XII. 


PYLE'S     HACKING    MATCH. 

Two  miles  south  of  Burlington  on  the  Jerry  Holt  farm, 
on  the  old  road  a  little  back  of  the  present  one,  occurred  a 
decisive  battle  of  the  Revolution. 

Cornwallis  was  at  Hillsboro  offering  "guineas  and  lands 
to  those  who  would  enlist  under  his  banner,"  but  he  "  could 
not  get  one  hundred  men  in  all  the  Regulator's  country 
even  as  militia."  Tarleton  was  encamped  with  his  army 
at  O'Neal's  plantation — now  Burlington  cemetery.  He  was 
there  to  attract  the  Tories  to  his  army,  thus. preparing  for 
an  attack  on  Pickens.  Col.  Pyles  was  collecting  troops 
for  Tarleton  and  was  marching  to  join  him  only  a  mile  or 
so  away. 

Col.  Pyles  had  been  a  Regulator  and  after  the  battle  of 
Alamance,  Governor  Tryon  had  imprisoned  his  wagons 
and  other  property.  He  took  the  oath  of  allegiance  and, 
feeling  bound  by  it  became  a  Tory  in  the  Revolution.  His 
followers  were  his  fellow  sufferers. 

Light  Horse  Harry  Lee — father  of  Gen.  R.  E.  Lee — and 
Capt.  Joseph  Graham — father  of  William  A.  Graham — 
were  aiding  Pickens  to  torment  Tarleton  and  to  be  a 
"scourge"  as  Cornwallis  had  said,  "of  the  British  army." 

*I  will  quote  from  Judge  Schenck's  book  who  gives  the 
unvarnished  story  as  related  by  Joseph  Graham.  Speaking 
of  Lee's  and  Pickens'  forces  he  says  :  "  The  whole  army 
moved  a  few  miles  and  encamped  at  an  adjacent  farm  for 
the  night.  The  next  day  it  was  in  motion,  in  different 
directions,  nearly  the  whole  day  ;  but  did  not  go  far,  beat- 
ing down  nearer  Hillsboro  The  two  corps  kept  near  each 
other,  though  they  moved  and  encamped  seperately,  as  they 

*Capt.  James  A.  Turrentine  gave  Judge  Schenck  the  details ;  he  also  gave  them  to 
me.     Capt.  Turrentine  is  my  authority,  the  best  there  is  on  Pjfles'  Hacking  Match. 


JO  THE    HISTORY    OF    ALAMANCE 

had  done  the  previous  evening.  Reconnoitering  parties, 
which  were  sent  out  in  the  evening  and  returned  in  the 
night,  gave  notice  of  a  detachment  passing  from  Hillsboro 
towards  the  ford  on  Haw  River. 

"  Pickens  and  Lee  put  their  forces  in  motion  at  an  early 
hour,  and  came  into  the  great  road  eight  miles  west  of 
Hillsboro,  near  Mebane's  farm. 

"  The  whole  of  the  militia  cavalry,  seventy  in  number, 
that  had  swords,  were  placed  under  Captain  Graham,  in 
the  rear  of  Lee's  horse.  Those  of  Graham's  men  as  had 
not  swords  were  ordered  to  join  another  company.  They 
followed  the  enemy's  trail  on  the  road  to  Haw  River,  with 
the  cavalry  in  front 

"  During  the  whole  day's  march  every  man  expected  a 
battle  and  hard  fighting.  Men's  countenances  on  such  oc- 
casions indicate  something  which  can  be  understood  better 
than  described.  The  countenances  of  the  whole  militia, 
throughout  the  day,  never  showed  better. 

These  soldiers  then,  said  Capt.  Jas.  A.  Turrentine  wore 
citizens  clothes  and  could  not  be  recognized  as  the  enemy. 

"  Maj.  Dickson,  of  Lincoln,  who  commanded  the  column 
on  our  right  (when  the  disposition  for  attack  had  been 
made  at  the  last  form)  had  been  thrown  out  of  his  proper 
order  of  march  by  the  fences  and  a  branch,  and  when  Pyle's 
men  were  first  seen  by  the  militia  they  were  thought  to  be 
the  party  under  Dickson,  which  had  come  round  the  plan- 
tation and  gotten  in  the  road  before  them.  On  coming 
within  twenty  steps  of  them,  Capt.  Graham  discovered  the 
mistake  ;  seeing  them  with  cleaner  clothes  than  Dickson's 
party,  and  each  man  having  a  strip  of  red  cloth  on  his  hat. 
Graham,  riding  alongside  of  Captain  Eggleston,  who  com- 
manded the  rear  of  Lee's  horse,  remarked  to  him  :  "  That 
company  are  Tories.  What  is  the  reason  they  have  their 
arms?"  Captain  Eggleston,  addressing  a  good  looking 
man  at  the  end  of  the  line,  supposed  to  be  an  officer,  in- 
quired, "  To  whom  do  you  belong?  "  The  man  promptly  re- 


THE    HISTORY    OK    ALAMANCE.  7 1 

plied  "A  friend  to  his  majesty."  Whereupon  Captain  Eggle- 
ston  struck  him  over  the  head.  The  miJitia  looking  on 
and  waiting  for  orders,  on  this  example  being  set,  rushed  on 
them  like  lightning  and  cut  away.  The  noise  in  the  rear 
attracted  the  notice  of  Lee's  men,  and  they  turned  their 
horses  short  to  the  right  about  five  steps,  and  in  less  than  a 
minute  the  attack  was  made  along  the  whole  line. 

"  Ninety  loyalists  were  killed.  The  next  day  our  militia 
counted  ninety-three  dead,  and  there  was  appearance  of 
many  more  being  carried  off  by  their  friends  There  were 
certainly  many  more  wounded. 

"  At  the  time  the  action  commenced,  Lee's  dragoons,  in 
the  open  order  of  inarch,  extended  about  the  same  distance 
with  Pyle's  men,  who  were  in  close  order,  and  on  horse- 
back ;  and  most  of  them  having  come  from  home  on  that 
day,  were  clean,  like  men  who  now  turn  out  to  a  review. 
Lee's  movement  was  as  if  he  were  going  to  pass  them  five 
or  six  steps  on  the  left  of  their  line.  When  the  alarm  was 
given  in  the  rear,  as  quickly  as  his  men  could  turn  their 
horses,  they  were  engaged ;  and  as  the  Tories  were  over 
two  to  one  of  our  actual  cavalry,  by  pressing  forward  they 
went  through  their  line,  leaving  a  number  behind  them. 
The  continual  cry  by  the  Tories  was,  '  You  are  killing  your 
own  men.  I  am  a  friend  to  his  majesty.  Hurrah  for  King 
George !' 

."  Finding  their  professions  of  loyalty,  and  a'l  they  could 
say  were  of  no  avail,  and  only  the  signal  for  their  destruc- 
tion, twe've  or  fifteen  of  those  whom  Lee's  men  had  gone 
through,  and  who  had  thrown  down  their  guns,  now  deter- 
mining to  sell  their  lives  as  dearly  as  possible,  jumped  to 
their  arms  and  began  to  fire  in  every  direction,  making  the 
cavalry  give  back  a  little.  But  as  soon  as  their  guns  were 
empty,  they  were  charged  upon  on  every  side  by  more  than 
could  get  at  them,  and  cut  down  in  a  group  together.  All 
the  harm  done  by  their  fire  was  that  a  dragoon's  horse  was 
shot  down.      Falling  very  suddenly,  and  not  moving  after- 


72  THE   HISTORY   OK    ALAMANCE 

ward,  the  rider's  leg  was  caught  under  him,  and  by  all  his 
efforts  he  could  not  extricate  himself,  until  the  action  be- 
gan to  slacken,  when  two  of  his  comrades  dismounted  and 
rolled  the  horse  off  him. 

"  Lee's  men  had  so  recently  come  to  the  South  that  they 
did  not  understand  the  usual  marks  of  distinction  between 
Whig  and  Tory,  and  after  the  first  onset,  when  all  became 
mixed,  they  inquired  of  each  man,  before  they  attacked 
him,  to  whom  he  belonged.  The  enemy  readily  answered, 
'  To  King  George.'  To  many  of  their  own  militia  they 
put  the  same  question.  Fortunately  no  mistake  occurred, 
though  in  some  instances  there  was  great  danger  of  it. 

uAt  the  close  of  the  action  the  troops  were  scattered  and 
mixed  through  each  other — completely  disorganized. 

"  Lee's  men,  though  under  excellent  discipline,  could 
with  difficulty  be  gotten  in  order.  The  commandants  ex- 
hibited great  perturbation,  until  at  length  Lee  ordered 
Major  Rudolph  to  lead  off  and  his  dragoons  to  fall  in  be- 
hind them  ;  Captain  Graham  received  the  same  order  as  to 
the  militia  dragoons,  and  by  the  time  the  line  had  moved 
a  quarter  of  a  mile  there  was  the  same  order  as  when  we 
met  Pyle.  Lee  himself,  while  they  were  formirg,  stayed 
in  the  rear  of  his  own  corps  and  in  front  of  Graham's,  and 
ordered  one  of  the  sergeants  to  go  directly  back  and  get  a 
pilot  from  among  the  Tories  and  bring  him  forward  with- 
out delay.  The  sergeant  in  a  short  time  returned  with  a 
middle-aged  man  who  lived  near  by,  and  who  had  received 
a  slight  wound  on  the  head  and  was  bleeding  freely.  The 
sergeant  apologized  to  the  Colonel  because  he  could  find 
none  who  were  not  wounded.  Lee  asked  him  several  ques- 
tions relative  to  the  roads,  farms,  water  courses,  etc.;  how- 
far  O'neal's  plantation  (where  Tarleton  then  was,  now  Bur- 
lington cemetery)  was  situated  ;  whether  open,  wood?,  hills 
or  level. 

''After  answering  the  several  questions,  and  after  an  in- 
terval of  about  a  minute,  while  Lee  appeared  to  be  medi- 
tating the  man  addressed  him  :   '  Well,  God  bless  your  soul, 


THE    HISTORY    OF    ALAMANCE.  73 

Mr.  Tarleton,  you  have  this  day  killed  a  parcel  of  as  good 
subjects  as  ever  his  Majesty  had.'  Lee,  who  at  this  time 
was  not  in  the  humor  for  quizzing,  interrupted  him,  say- 
ing :  •  You  d rascal,  if  you  call  me  Tarleton  I  will  take 

off  your  head.  I  will  undeceive  you  ;  we  are  the  Ameri- 
cans and  not  the  British.  I  am  Lee  of  the  American  Le- 
gion and  not  Tarleton.'  The  poor  fellow  appeared  chop 
fallen." 

This  was  a  decisive  battle.  The  enemy  lost  ninety  men 
or  more  ;  the  Americans  lost  none.  This  action  so  crip- 
pled the  Tory  forces  that  they  fled.  Cornwallis  sent  sev-' 
eral  messengers  to  bid  Tarleton  hasten  to  Hillsboro.  Pyles 
hacking  match  occurred  February  25,  1781.  Before  the 
next  day  dawned  he  was  out  of  this  action  and  well  on  his 
way. 

Pyles'  hacking  match  struck  terror  to  the  hearts  of  the 
Tories  of  Randolph  and  Chatham.  They  were  never  or- 
ganized again  during  the  war.  "  There  were  maurading 
parties  of  bandits  who  stole  and  plundered,  but  their  forces 
were  never  again  brought  together  as  a  military  organi- 
zation. 

"  If  Pyles  had  succeeded  in  joining  Tarleton,  and  the 
American  forces  fallen  into  his  hands  next  day,  as  he  ex- 
pected, the  tears  would  only  have  been  transposed  from 
Tory  to  Whig  homes,  and  the  weeping  and  lamentations 
would  have  made  patriots,  instead  of  traitors,  shudder  at 
the  result. 

"  Tarleton  had  inarched  to  intercept  the  detachments  of 
militia  under  Preston,  Armstrong  and  Winston,  who  were 
on  their  way  to  reinforce  Pickens ;  and  the  massacre  of 
Pyles  was  a  fortunate  circumstance,  from  the  British  stand- 
point, that  prevented  the  extermination  of  Tarleton's  com- 
mand " — Schenck. 

Greene  was  now  in  North  Carolina.  His  troops  were 
gathering.  Cornwallis  was  so  harrassed  that  he  left  Hills- 
boro and  came  to  Alamance  February  26.  The  battle  of 
Guilford  Court  House  was  ahead. 


CHAPTER  XIII 


THK    BATTLE    OF    I.IN  I  H.I'.V  S    MILL. 

Cane  Creek  runs  across  southern  Alamance,  draining  the 
Cane  Creek  Mountains  and  emptying  into  Haw  River.  It 
took  its  name  from  the  reeds  that  used  to  grow  on  its  banks. 
It  is  said  to  have  "run  bad  watei  "  in  time  of  the  Revolu- 
tion. "The  Tories,"  they  said,  "lived  on  its  banks. "  It 
did,  indeed,  run  troublesome  water. 

For  about  Friend's  meeting-house,  at  Cane  Creek,  Corn- 
wallis  camped  en  route  to  Hillsboro  to  gather  Tor}- recruits 
after  the  battle  of  Guilford  Court  House.  The  chair  he  sat 
in  is  still  at  Thomas  C.  Dixon's,  and  the  stone  house  in 
which  he  slept  is  there — a  monument  to  his  memory.  That 
the  Whigs  might  not  capture  them  he  threw  his  cannon  in 
the  mill  pond.     They  have  not  been  taken  out. 

At  that  place  Herman  Husbands  had  been  a  member  of 
the  society  of  Friends.  In  the  old  meeting  house  he  had 
married  Mary  Pugh.  There  he  had  shown,  too,  his  unruly 
disposition  to  "speak  his  mind,"  and  to  be  a  leader,  or 
rather  a  man  whom  men  would  follow.  There,  also,  had 
lived  his  wife's  brother  Pugh,  the  Regulator,  who  killed 
seventeen  men  when  he  lay  behind  a  rock  at  the  battle  of 
Alamance.  On  the  Cane  Creek  the  Whigs  and  Tories  kept 
up  a  constant  nagging  at  each  other. 

It  was  down  stream  five  or  six  miles  a  desperate  battle 
was  fought — known  as  the  Battle  of  Lindley's  Mill. 

In  the  early  records  at  Hillsboro  is  found  this  agreement: 
"  Hugh  Laughlin,  Planter,  on  the  one  part,  and  Thomas 
Lindley,  Planter,  on  the  other,  have  agreed  to  become  part- 
ners and  in  joint  company  to  erect  and  build  a  water  grist 
mill  on  Cane  Creek,  on  the  south  side  of  Haw  River.  The 
water  to  be  taken  out  of  that  part  of  land  owned  by  Hugh 


THE    HISTORY    OF    ALAMANCE.  75 

Laughlin  and  the  mill  to  be  built  on  that  part  owned  by 
Thomas  Lindley  3^  acres.     Sept.  Court  1755." 

That  desperado  David  Fannen,  who  hated  humanity  and 
became  a  Tory  to  take  vengeance  into  his  own  hands,  was 
conversant  with  this  place,  since  he  was,  in  these  parts, 
almost  omniscent  and  omnipresent.  A  man  named  Lind- 
ley  had  given  him  his  famous  *u  Red  Doe."  To  this  mill 
he  was  leading  the  forces  that  had  captured  Governor  Burke 
at  Hillsboro. 

This  specimen  of  Tory  doggerel  likely  tells  the  truth : 

"The  Governor  and  Council  in  Hillsboro  sought 

To  establish  some  new  Jaws  the  Tories  to  stop; 

They  thought  themselves  safe,  and  so  went  on  with  their  show, 

But  the  force  of  bold  Fannen  proved  their  overthrow. 

We  took  Governor  Burke  with  a  sudden  surprise, 

As  he  sat  on  horse  back  and  just  ready  to  ride; 

We  took  all  their  cannon  and  colors  in  town, 

And  formed  oar  brave  boys  and  marched  out  of  town; 

But  1he  rebels  waylaid  us  and  gave  us  a  broadside; 

The  flower  of  our  company  was  wounded,  full  sore. 

'Twas  Capt.  McNeill  and  two  or  three  more." 

Kirk's  Old  Field  is  on  the  road  between  Hillsboro  and 
Lindley's  mill.  Old  Kirk  was  an  Englishman  and  a  hat- 
ter. The  Tories  suspected  "him  of  playing  fast  and  loose," 
and  tried  to  kill  him  afterwards  for  it.  He  lived  in  a  "Whig 
region  " — that  on  Haw  Creek — (Mr.  Frank  Crawford  lives 
at  Kirk's  place  now). 

In  a  lane  at  this  place  twenty-five  Whigs  spent  the  night, 
and  engaged  in  a  fight  with  a  band  of  Tories  about  day- 
light of  14th  of  September,  1781.  These  Whigs  were  on 
their  way  to  meet  Greene  in  Guilford,  with  the  hope  of 
keeping  Tories  away  from  Hillsboro  and  to  aid  Gen.  But- 
ler and  Col.  Mebane  to  waylay  the  troop  with  the  Whig 
Governor  as  prisoner. 

"  Kirk's  Old  Field  "  was  a  fight  between  Capt.  Young,  a 
Whig,  with  his  men,  and  the  Edwards  brothers,  of  the 
neighborhood  of  Antioch  Baptist  Church,  in  Orange. 

Two  men  were  killed  on  each  side.     Capt.  Young  and 

TA  mare,  the  breed  of  which  still  exists. 


y6  THE    HISTORY    OF    ALAMANCE. 

his  adversary  Edwards  were  among  the  number.  ( A  son 
of  Capt.  Young  was  Capt.  Young  of  1812.) 

The  Battle  of  Lindley's  Mill  occurred  Sept.  14,  1781, 
about  noon.  On  the  day  before  Col.  Hector  McNeill,  Capt. 
McLean,  McDougal  and  Fannen — about  twenty-one  or 
twenty-two  in  all — rode  into  Hillsboro  in  broad  daylight 
and  captured  Governor  Burke  and  thirteen  others,  one  es- 
caping. Capt.  Clendenen,  of  Alamance,  was  there,  but  got 
away  in  the  morning  before  being  taken. 

At  the  Battle  of  Lindley's  Mill  the  Tory  forces,  collected, 
numbered  six  hundred  ;  the  Whigs,  three  hundred.  The 
Tories  were  led  by  Col.  McNeill  and  his  successor,  McDou- 
gal, the  Scotch  scorning  to  fight  under  Col.  Fannen  ;  Gen. 
Butler,  Col.  John  "  McBane  "  and  his  brother,  Col.  Robert 
Mebane,  led  the  Whigs.  The  Tories  fought  in  the  low- 
land on  the  defensive  ;  the  Whigs  fought  from  the  bluff, 
and  for  a  time  held  the  better  situation.  Seven  Tories 
were  killed  at  the  first  blast  of  battle,  among  the  number 
that  brave  Scot,  Col.  McNeill. 

North  of  the  mill  is  the  height  upon  which  Col.  Robert 
Mebane  showed  his  courage  and  military  skill.  The  hill 
becoming  surrounded  by  double  their  number  of  Tories, 
the  Whigs  grew  disheartened  and  Gen.  Butler  showed  his 
propensity  for  running — "  tried  to  run."  Col.  Robert  Me- 
bane seized  the  situation,  rallied  his  forces.  He  filled  his 
hat  with  ammunition,  passed  it  around  with  encouragement 
to  fight. 

The  Whigs  almost  gained  the  victory.  A  hundred  To- 
ries were  killed,  among  them  some  of  their  best.  It  was 
whispered  that  Gov.  Burke  would  be  killed  if  the  Tories 
were  too  hard  pressed.  Fannen  led  them  across  the  creek 
and  through  Chacham.  They  met  some  resistance  at  Hick- 
ory Mt.,  but  soon  got  over  Deep  River,  where  they  were 
safe  in  the  Tory  regions. 

Man\-  were  wounded  on  both  sides,  among  them  one 
Malcome  Downey,  whose  sister  walked   seventy-five  miles 


THE    HISTORY     OF    ALAMANCE.  77 

from  Robeson  county  to  care  for  him.  He  died.  McLaugh- 
lin's daughters,  who  lived  on  the  brow  of  a  hill  a  little  west, 
attended  both  Whigs  and  Tories.  One  brave  officer,  being 
wounded,  was  carried  to  the  loft  of  a  house  near  by,  on  the 
walls  of  which  he  wrote  his  name,  dipping  his  finger  in  his 
own  blood. 

The  war  of  the  Revolution  was  over.  The  battle  of 
Lindley's  Mill  was  the  result  of  Whig  and  Tory  venom. 
It  was  the  smothering  away  of  that  Vesuvius-like  eruption, 
the  War  of  the  Revolution. 


CHAPTER  XIV 


GERMAN  REFORMED  AND  LUTHERAN  CHURCHES. 

German  immigration  to  America  grew  out  of  the  fearful 
results  of  the  thirty  years'  war  that  left  their  country  deso- 
late and  made  existence  there  intolerable.  After  this  came 
the  French  invasion  of  the  Rhine  country.  The  homes  of 
the  Protestants  became  a  homeless  waste.  The  new  world 
opened  an  asylum.  Thousands  left  their  native  land  by 
way  of  England  to  reach  a  home  in  the  wilderness.  Most 
of  these  landed  in  Pennsylvania  which  was  becoming 
Germanized. 

During  the  period  between  1778-1775  the  archives  of 
the  colony  of  Pennsylvania  record  the  names  of  more  than 
30,000  persons  who  landed  at  the  port  of  Philadelphia. 
From  this  colony  the  German  immigrants  to  North  Caro- 
lina to  a  great  extent  came. 

The  most  valuable  lands  in  Pennsylvania  were  taken  up. 
The  Proprietor  Granville  offered  advantageous  terms  to  set- 
tlers. The  resources,  climate  and  fertility  of  soil  attracted 
industrious  people  thither. 

A  goodly  number  of  the  Pennsylvania  Dutch  settled  in 
Alamance  and  neighboring  territory.  Those  who  settled  in 
Alamance  stopped  on  the  fertile  banks  of  the  Great  Ala- 
mance and  the  Stinking  Quarter  Cieeks.  These  were 
Albrights,  Isleys,  Sharps,  Holts,  Clapp,  Fousts,  *Emigs, 
Kimes  etc.  etc.  etc. 

These  people  had  but  little  to  do  with  affairs  of  State 
because  they  could  not  speak  English  very  well,  they  spoke 
Gearman.  They  held  no  civil  office,  but  they  made  good 
soldiers  when  the  Cherokee  Indians  came  against  them. 
When  called  from  their  loom-making,  cloth-weaving,  dairy- 
ing and  agricultural  pursuits,  to  attend  to  the  lawyers  and 
lawmakers  at  Hillsboro  in  1771 — to  be  sure  they  went  with 

*Amick. 


THE    HISTORY    OF    ALAMANCE.  79 

a  vengance,  like  a  storm  as  farmers  and  men  of  the  soil  are 
wont  to  do  when  called  to  adjust  such  affairs. 

The  Alamance  Germans  adhered  to  the  German  Reform 
and  Lutheran  Churches  which  are  closely  allied.  The 
German  Reform  Church  came  from  the  high  lands  of  Ger- 
many, Switzerland,  and  were  the  followers  of  Calvin  as  the 
Lutheran  Church  followed  Luther. 

These  settlers  of  Alamance  not  only  brought  their  bibles 
(we  frequently  run  across  these  old  German  bibles)  but 
they  had  scarcely  reared  a  log  cabin  and  cleared  a  few  acres 
of  land  when  they  began  to  build  a  schoolhouse  that  served 
as  a  place  of  worship.  After  better  days  a  more  comfortable 
house  of  worship  was  reared  but  near  it  still  stood  the 
schoolhouse.  The  school  masters — that  essential  character 
in  every  German  community — supplied  the  place  of  the  min- 
ister. However,  during  their  great  scarcity  of  ministers, 
and  the  Revolutionary  war  they  kept  their  identity  ;  and 
they  were  Whigs  decidedly. 

"A  people  that  had  forsaken  all  and  fled  to  the  wilder- 
ness, with  the  hope  to  enjoy  freedom  to  worship  God,  could 
not  be  made  the  creatures  of  tyrannical  government  such 
as  that  of  George  III,  of  England."     Rev.  Welker. 

Their  first  church  was  a  log  building  near  Law's  Church 
now,  on  the  old  road  from  Hillsboro  to  Salisbury.  It  was 
a  Union  Lutheran  and  German  Reformed  Church.  This 
union  was  severed  by  different  sentiments  growing  out  of 
the  Regulation  movement  and  the  rebellion  of  the  colonies.* 
Rev.  Samuel  Luther  of  Mecklenburg  county,  an  advanced 
Whig  patriot  was  the  Reformed  pastor  under  whose  inspiring 
guidance  the  Albrights,  Ingolds,  Schenck  and  Leinber- 
gers  were  led  to  a  schoolhouse  (near  Brick  church  now) 
and  there  undisturbed  by  factional  differences  erected  an 
altar  for  worship.  Luther  was  pastor  until  the  close  of  the 
war  and  was  the  animating  spirit  of  the  community.  Then 
Ludwig  Clapp  and  Christian  Faust  were  elders  and  Ingold 

*They  could'nt  pray  satisfactorily  to  all  since  some   were  Tories  and  others  Whigs. 


80  THE    HISTORY    OF    ALAMANCE. 

and  Linberger  deacons.  Rev.  Bithahn  succeeded  Luther. 
After  whose  death  the  Rev.  Lorety  visited  it  to  preach  four 
times  in  a  year.  In  1801  Rev.  Mr.  Dieffenbach  was  pastor 
for  six  years.  Jacob  Clapp  and  John  Greff  (Graves)  were 
Elders. 

In  181 2  Capt.  W.  Albright,  an  Klder  in  the- church,  was 
sent  to  attend  the  Reformed  Synod  in  Philadelphia,  to  se- 
cure a  pastor  for  this  charge.  (Wm.  Albright  was  a  patriot 
captain  in  1776.)  Rev  Mr.  Reley  was  deputed  by  the 
Synod.  In  1821  Rev.  John  Rudy  became  pastor.  In  1828 
Rev  J.  H.  Crawford,  of  Maryland,  was  elected  his  successor. 
In  1 84 1  Rev.  G.  William  Welker  took  charge  and  contin- 
ued there  for  more  than  forty  years.  Capt.  Wm.  Albright, 
Barney  Clapp,  Nathan  Schenck  and  others  of  his  church 
were  Regulators.  "George  Goertner  was  the  civil  leader  of 
this  community  of  Germans.  This  is  the  history  of  the 
earliest  Reformed  Church — first  in  conjunction  with  the 
Lutherans  at  Law's  but  after  the  division — Brick  Church. 

From  this  Steiner's  or  Stoner's  church  sprang  in  1758, 
with  Rev.  Weyberg  as  first  pastor.  He  was  succeeded  by 
Leinbach,  a  foreign  German.  Then  its  pastors  were  the 
same  as  those  of  Brick  Church. 

The  founders  of  Stoner's  church  were  the  Albrights  (Al- 
brechts).  Fausts,  Basons,  Ephlands,  Gerhards,  Loys,  Longs, 
Shaddies  (Schades),  Steiners,  Nease,  Trollingers.  Sharps 
(Scheabe)  and  others  whose  descendants  still  people  the 
fertile  region  on  the  waters  of  Haw  River,  Alamance  Creek, 
and  Stinking  Quarter. 

These  immigrants  were  mostly  from  the  Counties  of 
Schuylkill  and  Berks  in  Pennsylvania  and  from  Maryland- 

Their  house  of  worship  in  order  to  be  central  was  erected 
on  the  peninsular  between  Alamance  and  Stinking  Quarter 
streams. 

In  its  earliest  days  Jacob  Albright,  Peter  Sharp  and  John 
Faust  were  the  Elders  ;  Philip  Snotherly  and  David  Eph- 
land,  the  Deacons. 


CHAPTER  XV. 


HAW    FIELDS    PRESBYTERIAN    CHURCH. 

Haw  Fields  was  the  home  church  of  all  the  old  Presby- 
terian settlers  in  Alamance.  It  was  organized  a  little  later 
than  Dr.  Caldwell's  church  at  Alamance,  so  finely  described 
in  Dr.  Wiley's  novel.  Its  first  pastor  was  Rev.  Dr.  Henry 
Patillo,  then  Rev.  Mr.  Hugh  McAden,  Rev.  Mr.  W.  Pais- 
ley, Dr.  Archibald  Currie,  etc. 

Haw  Fields  was  the  intellectual  centre  of  northern  Ala- 
mance. It  was  not  only  the  intellectual  and  religious,  but 
also  the  political  centre.  Its  members  were  Whigs  of  the 
Revolution.  After  a  victory  they  were  accustomed  to  meet 
to  give  thanks  for  it.  On  one  occasion  an  influential  mem- 
ber arose  and  left  the  house  during  services.  Being  ques- 
tioned, he  replied  he  did  not  expect  to  stay  anywhere  and 
hear  them  give  the  Lord  all  the  thanks  and  Robert  Mebane 
none.  The  government  there  was  a  theocracy,  something 
like  that  of  the  Hebrews.  Like  David,  they  believed  God 
was  a  God  of  battles.     They  may  have  been  rightabout  it. 

One  can  imagine  the  religious  feeling  then  existing  if  he 
will  consider  for  a  moment  the  state  of  affairs.  While  the 
people  of  Haw  Fields  were  praying  for  the  war  to  proceed 
with  deadly  effect  on  the  Tories,  the  Quakers  on  Cane  Creek 
were  praying  for  peace  and  King  George's  rule  rather  than 
no  rule  ;  the  Stoners  congregation  were  praying  for  the 
Whigs,  while  at  St.  Paul's  they  prayed  for  the  Tories. 
These  latter  congregations  conversed,  prayed  and  swore  in 
German,  unintelligible  to  the  Scotch  at  Haw  Fields  and 
the  English  Quakers  on  Cane  Creek. 

The  Haw  Fields,  the  Cane  Creek  and  the  German  settle- 
ments make  an  almost  perfect  right  angle  triangle,  the  right 
angle  being  in  the  German  settlement  on  the  Great  Ala- 
6 


82  THE    HISTORY    OF    ALAMANCE. 

mance,  its  hypothenuse  from  Haw  Fields  to  Cane  Creek 
about  fifteen  miles.  This  triangle  was  the  scene  of  many 
important  events.  In  it  was  fought  the  Battle  of  Alamance, 
Tryon  and  Cornwallis  made  their  raids  across  it,  German 
settlers  were  Americanized  and  Presbyterianized  (if  that 
term  be  allowed.)  Albrights,  Holts  and  Fousts  are  now 
Presbyterians.* 

The  first  settlers  in  Haw  Fields  were  the  Freelands,  Col. 
Alexander  Mebane  and  his  six  sons,  Whig  officers,  the 
Tates,  the  Johnsons,  Craigs,  Gen.  Butler,  James  Hunter, 
James  Stockard,  William  Trousdale,  Stephen  White,  Turn- 
ers, Clendenens.  They  settled  in  Haw  Fields,  attracted  by 
the  fertile  land  and  rolling  savannahs.  The  forest  has  for 
the  most  part  grown  up  since. 

In  Rev.  Mr.  Hugh  McAden's  journal  is  the  following : 
"  On  Monday  evening  I  rode  to  the  Haw  Fields,  where  I 
preached  the  fourth  Sabbath  in  August — Aug.  24,  1755 — 
to  a  considerable  congregation,  chiefly  Presbyterians,  who 
seemed  highly  pleased  and  very  desirous  to  hear  the  Word 
preached  again  on  Tuesday  ;  the  people  came  out  to  hear 
quite  beyond  expectation." 

The  original  records  of  the  first  twenty-five  years  of 
Orange  Presbytery  were  destroyed  by  fire  in  the  house  of 
Dr.  John  Witherspoon,  in  January,  1827.  The  first  re- 
corded meeting  of  Orange  Presbytery  now  in  existence  is 
dated  Nov.  18,  1795. 

*  Some  belong  to  the  Episcopal  and  other  churches. 


CHAPTER  XVI, 


SCHOOLS   OF    ALAMANCE. 

The  incorporated  schools  of  Alamance  were  Graham 
Institute,  chartered  1851  ;  Jefferson  Academy,  chartered 
1861  ;  Graham  High  School,  chartered  1879;  Graham  Nor- 
mal College,  chartered  1881. 

Before  1776  there  were  German  schools  along  the  Ala- 
mance Creeks  and  Stinking  Quarter.  Near  every  church 
was  a  schoolhouse.  Our  early  German  settlers  preferred 
teachers  to  preachers.  In  many  cases  the  teacher  did  the 
preaching.  Among  the  first  things  they  did  after  settling 
was  to  build  a  schoolhouse.     And  they  came  about  1840. 

Herr  Johannis  Scherer  was  school  master  in  1800.  He 
taught  a  little  way  west  of  the  Alamance  Battle  ground. 
His  students  were  from  these  families  :  Albrights,  Clapps, 
Fausts,  Holts,  Sharps  (Scherbs),  Laws,  Graves  (Greff), 
Summers,  Cobbs  (Kaub>),  Cobles,  Swings  (Schwenks), 
Cortners  (Goertners),  Ingolds,  Browers,  Keims,  Staleys, 
Ways,  Amicks  (Einigs),  Neases,  Ingles,  Leinbergers,  Wy- 
ri:ks,  Anthonevs,  Scheaffers  (Shepherds),  Weitzells,  Trol- 
lingers,  Longs,  Isleys,  Shoffners,  Reitzells. 

In  1 81 2  provision  was  made  for  teaching  English.  In 
1828  English  became  the  principal  language.  Some  of 
their  old  German  text  books  are  still  to  be  found  lying 
around. 

The  Quakers  had  Schools  about  Cane  Creek  and  Spring 
Meeting  house.  Sylvan  Academy  has  been  taught  by  Jas- 
per Thompson  ;  Dellia  Newlin  and  Clarkson  Blair ;  D. 
Matt  Thompson  and  his  wife ;  Mr.  Tomlinson ;  Albert 
Peele  and  others. 

About  18 18  Miss  Mary  Mendenhall  taught  on  the  Pitts - 
boro  road  a  mile  !-outh  of  Maine's  Creek. 


Note.— Educational  affairs  in  Alamance  are  in  a  sad  state. 


84  THE    HISTORY    OK    ALAMANCE. 

Wesley  Yeargan  taught  at  Spring  Meeting  house  eighty 
years  ago.  His  salary  was  thirty  dollars  per  month,  and 
board  Among  his  thirty  students  wa^  Nathaniel  Woody. 
The  teacher  treated  Christmas  on  whiskey. 

Henry  Patillo,  one  of  the  early  pastors  at  Haw  Fields 
"was  one  of  the  earliest  and  best  teachers  in  the  State." 
This  was  in  1765.  He  was  a  Scotch-Irish  Presbyterian  of 
influence  so  great  that  Tryon  selected  him  to  pacify  the 
Regulators.  He  was  a  delegate  to  the  Provincial  Congress 
of  1775,  presiding  in  the  committee  of  the  whole,  a'so 
acting  as  chaplain.  Besides  a  volume  of  sermons  he  pub- 
lished a  "'school-book  probably  the  first  in  the  State,  a 
geography  by  question  and  answer,  a  creditable  pioduc- 
tiou."  It  was  printed  in  1796  by  Abraham  Hodge,  and 
dedicated  to  General  Davie. 

Rev   Patillo  accepted  a  call  from  Haw  Fields  1764. 

Before  1776  Richard  Stanford  had  a  largely  patronized 
school  at  Robert  Scott's,  ntar  Haw  Fields  Church. 
Among  his  students  were  Thomas  Hart  Benton,  a  senator 
from  Missouri,  John  Taylor,  forty  years  Clerk  of  Superior 
Court  of  Orange,  and  Stephen  White.  Richard  Stanford 
was  a  member  of  Congress.  His  wife  was  the  daughter  of 
Gen.  Alex.  Mebane.  Capt.  S.  H.  Webb  and  the  Stan  fords 
in  Alamance  are  his  descendants. 

Rev.  John  DeBow  succeeded  Patillo  in  1775  as  teacher 
and  preacher  at  Haw  Field?.  He  was  an  uncle  of  Archi- 
bald Murphy  and  William  Hodge. 

It  is  likely  that  all  the  old  time  Presbyterian  preachers 
were  teachers.  It  is  true  they  had  the  supervision  of 
schools.  Rev.  William  Paisley  labored  at  Haw  Fields  as 
teacher  and  preacher  1800-1820. 

Some  w.vys  north  of  William  Paisley's  school  in  the  neigh- 
borhood of  Cross  Roads  Prof.  William  Bingham  taught 
calling  his  place  Mount  Repose.  Among  his  students  were 
the  Hon.  Giles  Mebane  who  gave  Dr.  Battle  this  account 
of  him  :  "  In  appearance  he  was  about  five,  six  inches  tall, 


THE    HISTORY    OF    ALAMANCE.  85 

no  surplus  flesh,  weighing  150  or  160  pounds;  very  quick 
and  brisk  in  his  movements  walked  erect,  like  a  well  drilled 
soldier ;  was  bald — the  boys  nicknamed  him  '  old  Slick/ 
walked  three  miles  to  church  on  Sunday,  leading  his  board- 
ers ;  was  reasonably  talkative  and  some  time  jocose  but 
never  undignified.  He  whipped  with  well  trimmed  hick- 
ories, of  which  he  kept  a  supply  equal  to  the  demand.  He 
whipped  in  discharge  of  a  duty  to  his  patrons,  rather  than 
to  punish  the  boys.  Whipping  was  imported  from  Ireland, 
but  lost  nothing  of  its  usefulness  in  America  as  adminis- 
tered by  the  elder  Bingham.  The  schoolhouse  was  of  logs 
with  one  chimney  and  one  stove.  In  front  of  the  door  was 
a  leaf  arbor  for  study  in  good  weather.  On  one  occasion 
I  was  dancing  furiously  under  the  arbor  The  old  man 
came  to  the  door  and  said  ;  '  Aye  !  Aye  !  Giles  !'  The 
matter  ended  there.  He  had  several  log  cabins  built  near 
his  house  and  in  them  the  boys  lodged  and  studied  such 
books  as  Casar  and  Virgil  and  imbibed  classical  ideas.  His 
reputation  as  an  educator  drew  scholars  from  a  distance. 
When  I  was  at  the  school  there  was  one  from  Virginia  and 
one  from  New  Orleans.  The  average  number  was  thirty- 
five  or  forty.  He  had  no  assistant.  'This  was  Maj  R. 
Bingham's  grand  father.  He  was  Professor  of  ancient  Lan- 
guages in  the  University  of  North  Carolina  180 1-5."  He 
was  an  honor  graduate  of  the  University  of  Glasgow,  a 
ScoL.ch-Irish  of  Ulster;  emigrated  about  1788  on  account 
of  political  troubles,  landing  in  Delaware  and  from  there 
to  Wilmington  N.  C. 

Archibald  DeBow  Murphey,  who  lived  at  the  Curtis  place 
east  of  Swepsonville,  taught  law.  Among  his  pupils  were 
Thomas  Hill,  the  Moreheads  and  Judge  Jesse  Turner  of 
Arkansas. 

Daniel  Turrentine  taught  in  the  Haw  Field  country  from 
1800  to  1830.  "Among  his  children  were  James  C.  Tur- 
rentine for  sixteen  years  sheriff  of  Orange  and  at  one  time 

Note —For  an  account  of   Hon.  Murphy   and   Judge  Rufnn  see    "I^ives  of  Distil* 
guished  North  Carolinians,"  by  W.  J.  Peele. 


86  THE    HISTORY   OF    ALAMANCE. 

a  teacher ;  John  Turrentine  for  many  years  a  teacher  and 
surveyor,  his  sons  were  Samuel,  James  and  William  of  Bur- 
lington.    Judge  Jesse  Turner  was  a  pupil  of  Daniel." 

In  1813  John  H.  Pickard  opened  a  classical  school  near 
the  residence  of  Rev.  William  Paisley  and  Mr.  James  Mebane. 

About  1830  Jonathan  Worth,  afterwards  lawyer,  Treasurer 
and  Governor  of  the  State,  taught  at  Providence  Church  in 
Graham.  He  was  succeeded  by  Burcheet,  a  scholarly  and 
progressive  man,  by  whose  agency  a  good  library  was  pur- 
chased. Then  came  Dr.  Win.  F.  Basin  (i838-'4o).  Rev. 
John  R.  Holt  "taught  in  Graham  in  1840." 

He  had  had  a  school  near  Bethel  Church  in  South  Ala- 
mance called  Mount  Energy  High  School.  Rev.  Mr.  Holt 
was  partly  educated  at  Chapel  Hill.  Though  not  a  grad- 
uate he  was  a  "  good  scholar,"  and  prepared  boys  for  the 
University.  Dr.  Grissom  was  prepared  for  college  there, 
also  Lewis  B.  Holt  a  promising  scholar  who  was  being  edu- 
cated at  Chapel  Hill  by  Mr.  Michael  Holt  when  he  died 
there.  Other  students  were  Dr.  Pleasant  A.  Holt,  W.  F. 
Stroud,  A.  Turentine,  Joseph  McCulloch  and  Little  Ed. 
Holt. 

Dr.  Alexander  Wilson  was  born  in  County  Down,  Ire- 
land, at  Ballylesson.  His  father,  of  the  same  name,  was 
wealthy  but  lost  it  all  by  standing  security.  The  son  re- 
ceived an  excellent  education  with  a  view  to  becoming  a 
physician.  Obtaining  a  diploma  from  the  governor  and 
directors  of  Apothecaries  Hall,  Dublin,  he  emigrated  to 
America  1818.  His  wife  came  afterwards.  They  settled 
in  New  York  Citv  where  he  taught.  Later  they  came  to 
North  Carolina  where  he  taught  in  McPeeter's  school  in 
Raleigh,  in  Granville,  Greensboro  and  Hillsboro.  In  1845 
he  moved  to  Burnt  Shop,  near  Haw  Fields  Church,  buying 
land  of  Hon.  A.  Murphy.  He  changed  its  name  to  Melville. 
His  was  a  select,  private,  classical  school.  He  employed  as 
his  assistant,  Dr.  A.  Wilson  of  Caswell,  the  same  name  but 
210  relation. 


THE    HISTORY    OF    ALAMANCE.  87 

His  students  were:  Col.  Morehead,  Eueene  Morehead, 
Turner  Tate,  Turner  Morehead,  Henry  Lindsay,  Robert 
and  William  Shaw,  Arch  Staton,  Tom  Roulack,  John  and 
James  Wilson,  Rev.  Mr.  Tom,  Joe.  Scales,  Henry  Ayer, 
Absalom  Simonton,  Craige  Thompson,  William  Mebane, 
June  and  Charley  Austin,  W.  A.  and  Jas.  Faucette,  Dr.  Sam. 
Grier,  Richard  Blackledge,  Hannis  Taylor,  J.  A.  and  George 
Long,  D.  A.  Long,  Samuel  Patterson,  T.  B.  Bailey,  John 
A.  McMurray,  Joe  Holmes,  Jas.  A.  Richardson,  Ed.  Rich- 
ardson (of  Jackson  Miss.)  Jas.  Morehead,  Ike  R.  Strayhorn, 
John  A.  Gilmer,  Mr.  Ramsay  (of  Ireland,)  Mr.  Hardee  (of 
Texas),  George  F.  Dixon,  Jno.  J.  White,  John  W.  and  Geo. 
Basin,  B.  F.  White,  J.  I.  and  W.  P.  White,  Elbridge  and 
Monroe  Cook,  George,  John  and  Scott  Albright,  Currie 
Russel,  Cornelius  Patton,  Jas.  A.  and  H.  C.  Dixon,  L.  B. 
and  Lawrence  Holt,  Samuel  K.  Scott,  J.  R.  Newlin,  Mayor 
Van  Wyck,  of  New  York,  etc.,  etc.  Dr.  Wilson's  sons 
were  Railroad  Commissioner  Maj.  J.  W.  Wilson  and  Mr. 
Robert  Wilson  a  merchant  of  Richmond  Virginia. 

Rev.  William  Nelson  and  his  wife,  a  Virginia  lady  con- 
ducted a  flourishing  school  for  young  ladies  in  Graham  on 
Mebane  Avenue.  They  were  assisted  by  Miss  Paisley  of 
Guilford. 

The  Graham  Institute  was  inaugurated  by  Rev.  W.  H. 
Doherty,  A.  M.,  who  was  trained  at  the  Royal  Belfast  In- 
stitution in  Ireland.  He  had  been  sen  or  professor  in  An- 
tioch  College,  Ohio.  He  was  assisted  by  his  daughter  Miss 
Mary  and  a  fine  music  teacher,  Miss  Carrie  Comer.  This 
institution  was  merged  into  the  Graham  Normal  College 
Drs.  D.  A.  and  W.  S.  Long  being  joint  principals  for  several 
years.  Then  H.  Jerome  Stockard  and  Mr.  Smedes  of  Ral- 
eigh taught ;  later  Dr.  J.  U.  Newman  and  Mr.  S.  A.  Hol- 
leman.  The  College  stood  in  southern  part  of  Graham 
near  Mr.  L.  B.  Holt's  and  was  burned. 

Since  then  the  school  in  Graham  has  degenerated.  A 
new  building  stands  on  northwest  side  of  town. 


88  THi.    HISTORY   OF    ALAMAN'CE. 

Elon  College  was  built  by  the  Christian  Church  of  North 
Carolina  and  Virginia.  Dr.  YV.  S.  Long  was  its  first  presi- 
dent ;  he  was  succeeded  by  Dr.  W.  W.  Staly  of  Virginia. 
This  college  is  virtually  an  outgrowth  of  Graham  Normal 
College.  Dr.  J.  U.  Newman,  Prof  S.  A.  Holleman,  and 
Prof.  Atkinson  are  the  leading  members  of  the  faculty. 
The  degrees,  A.  B.  and  A.  M.,  are  granted  afttr  a  four  or 
five  years  course. 

Burlington  has  several  small  schools.  She  ought  to  sup- 
port a  good  graded  school. 


CHAPTER  XYII. 


COTTON    MANUFACTURING    IN    ALAMANCE. 

Fifty  years  ago  our  people  raised  a  patch  of  cotton  as 
they  raised  a  patch  of  flax — enough  for  family  use.  There 
was  no  distribution  of  labor,  or  scarcely  anything  except 
the  crude  and  luxurious  latent  energy.  Cotton  seed  were 
picked  out  by  hand — the  same  hand  that  planted,  hoed, 
spun  and  wove  it.  A  few  courageous  men  have  changed 
all  this  in  North  Carolina,  and  first  among  that  num- 
ber is  Mr.  -Edwin  M.  Holt,  whose  ancestors  were  Ala- 
mance people  as  well  as  himself  and  his  children.  Every 
man  who,  by  his  own  energy,  accomplishes,  lifts  up  those 
about  him. 

The  following  article  was  prepared  by  Governor  Holt, 
and  it  is  more  valuable  than  anything  I  could  say  on  the 
subject,  because  it  gives  the  spirit,  thrift  and  foresight  of 
those  who  paved  the  way  for  manufacturing  cotton  in  North 
Carolina  : 

"  My  father,  the  late  Edwin  M.  Holt,  possessed  a  fine 
mind  and  a  remarkable  aptitude  for  mechanics.  He  was 
married  during  the  year  1828,  and  about  that  time  com- 
menced his  business  career  by  running  a  small  farm  and  a 
store. 

"About  the  year  1836  there  was  in  Greensboro  a  Mr. 
Henry  Humphries,  who  was  engaged  in  running  at  that 
place  a  cotton  mill  by  steam.  Following  the  natural  in- 
clination of  his  mind  for  mechanical  pursuits,  my  father 
made  it  convenient  to  visit  Greensboro  often,  and  as  often 
as  he  went  there  he  always  made  it  his  business  and  pleas- 
ure to  call  on  Mr.  Humphries.  The  two  began  to  like  each 
other  very  much,  and  soon  became  good  friends,  and  the 
more  my  father  examined  and  saw  into  the  working  of  Mr. 


90  THE    HISTORY    OF    ALAMANCE. 

Humphries'  mill  the  more  he  detei  mined  to  go  into  the 
business  himself. 

"Some  time  about  the  year  1836  he  mentioned  the  mat- 
ter to  his  father,  hoping  that  the  old  gentleman  would  ap- 
prove of  his  plans,  and  as  he  at  the  time  owned  a  grist-mill 
on  Alamance  creek,  about  one  mile  from  his  home  (the 
water-power  of  the  creek  being  sufficient  to  run  both  the 
grist-mill  and  a  small  cotton  factory),  and  he  reasoned  that 
if  his  father  would  join  him  in  the  enterprise  and  erect  a 
cotton  factory  on  his  site  on  Alamance  creek,  all  would  be 
well. 

"  But  his  father  utterly  opposed  his  scheme  and  did  all 
he  could  to  dissuade  his  son  from  embarking  in  the  enter- 
prise. Not  discouraged  by  this  disappointment,  he  next 
applied  to  his  brother-in-law,  William  A.  Carrigan,  to  join 
him,  and  he  considered  the  matter  for  a  long  time,  not  be- 
ing able  to  make  up  his  mind  one  way  or  the  other  as  to 
what  he  would  do. 

"  Finally,  without  waiting  for  his  brother-in-law's  an- 
swer, he  went  to  Patterson,  New  Jersey,  and  gave  the  order 
for  the  making  of  the  machinery,  not  then  knowing  where 
he  would  locate  his  mill.  On  his  return  from  Patterson, 
N.  J.,  he  stopped  over  in  Philadelphia,  where  he  met  at  the 
United  States  Hotel  the  late  Chief  Justice  Ruffin. 

"Chief  Justice  Ruffin  at  that  time  owned  a  water-power 
and  a  grist-mill  on  Haw  River,  the  place  now  being  known 
as  Swepsonville.  He  remarked  to  my  father  that  he  was 
going  to  build  a  cotton  factory,  and  asked  him  where  he 
was  going  to  locate  it.  My  father  replied  that  he  wanted 
to  put  it  at  his  father's  mill-site  on  Alamance  creek,  but 
that  the  old  gentleman  was  so  much  opposed  to  it  that  he 
did  not  know  whether  he  would  allow  it  or  not. 

"  Chief  Justice  Ruffin  then  said  he  did  not  wish  to  inter- 
fere in  any  arrangements  between  his  father  and  himself, 
but  that  if  his  father  held  out  in  his  opposition,  he  would 
be  glad  to  have  him  locate  his  mill  at  his  place  on  Haw 


THE    HISTORY    OF    ALAMANCE.  91 

River,  and  if  he  wished  a  partner  he  would  be  glad  to  enter 
into  partnership  with  him,  and  if  he  did  not  desire  a  part- 
ner, but  wanted  to  borrow  any  money,  he  would  be  glad  to 
loan  him  as  much  as  he  desired  to  borrow. 

"  On  his  return  home  my  father  repeated  this  conversa- 
tion to  his  father,  who,  seeing  that  he  was  determined  to 
build  a  cotton  factory,  proposed  to  let  him  have  his  water- 
power  on  Alamance  creek  and  to  become  his  partner  in  the 
enterprise.  The  latter  part  of  the  proposition  was  declined 
on  account  of  having  previously  told  his  father  that  he 
would  not  involve  him  for  a  cent. 

u  The  conversation  with  Chief  Justice  Ruffin  was  then 
repeated  to  Mr.  Carrigan,  who  consented  to  enter  into  the 
partnership  and  join  in  the  undertaking. 

"  They  bought  the  water-power  on  Alamance  creek  from 
my  grandfather  at  a  nominal  price,  put  up  the  necessary 
buildings  and  started  the  cotton  factory  during  the  panic 
of  1837.  The  name  of  the  firm  was  Holt  and  Carrigan, 
and  they  continued  to  do  business  under  this  name  until 
1 85 1. 

"About  this  time  Mr.  Carrigan's  wife  died,  leaving  her 
surviving  five  sons,  the  two  oldest  of  whom  were  graduates 
of  the  University  of  North  Carolina.  These  two  young 
men,  desiring  to  move  to  the  State  of  Arkansas,  their  father 
decided  to  go  with  them  and  sold  out  to  my  father  his  in- 
terest in  the  factory. 

"I  was  then  living  in  Philadelphia.  Mv  father  needing 
some  one  to  help  him  in  his  business  affairs,  brought  me 
home.  I  went  to  work  with  him,  entering  upon  my  duties 
on  the  i3fh  day  of  October,  1851,  continuing  in  his  service 
ten  years. 

"In  1853  there  came  to  our  place  of  business  on  Ala- 
mance creek  a  Frenchman,  who  was  a  dyer,  and  who  was 
'  hard  up  '  and  out  of  money,  without  friends.  He  proposed 
to  teach  me  how  to  color  cotton  yarns  if  I  would  pay  him 
the  sum  of  one  hundred  dollars  and  give  him  his  board.     I 


92  THE    HISTORY   OF    ALAMANCE. 

persuaded  my  father  to  allow  me  to  accept  the  proposi:ion, 
and  immediately  went  to  work  with  such  appliances  as  we 
could  scrape  up;  these  were  an  eighty-gallon  copper  boiler 
which  my  grandfather  used  for  the  purpose  of  boiling  pota- 
toes and  turnips  for  his  hogs;  a  large  cast-iron  wash-pot 
which  happened  to  be  in  the  store  on  sale  at  the  time. 
With  these   implements  I  learned  my  A,  P>,  C's  in    dyeing. 

"As  speedily  as  possible  we  built  a  dye-house  and  acquired 
the  necessary  utensils  for  dyeing.  The  Frenchman  remained 
with  me  until  I  thought  I  could  manage  it  myself.  I  got 
along  very  well,  with  the  exception  of  dyeing  indigo  blue. 
Afterwards  an  expert  d>er  in  blue  came  out  from  Philadel- 
phia who  taught  me  the  art  of  dyeing  in  that  color.  He 
then  put  two  negro  men  to  work  with  me,  and  side  by  side 
I  worked  with  them  at  the  dye  tubs  for  over  eight  years. 

"We  then  put  in  some  four-box  looms  and  commenced 
the  manufacture  of  the  class  of  goods  then  and  now  known 
as  'Alamance  Plaids.' 

"  I  am  reliably  informed  that  up  to  that  time  there  never 
had  been  a  vard  of  plaids  or  colored  cotton  goods  woven  on 
a  power  loom  south  of  the  Potomac  river.  If  this  be  true, 
I  am  entitled  to  the  honor  of  having  dyed  with  mv  own 
hands  and  had  woven  under  mv  own  supervision  the  first 
yard  of  colored  cotton  goods  manufactured  iti  the  South. 

"  While  working  in  the  dye-house  I  wore  over-alls  made 
of  O^naburgs  and  dyed  in  the  indigo  vat.  It  may  be  out 
of  place  to  relate  a  little  incident  that  occurred  about  this 
time.  A  few  months  after  my  wife  and  myself  were  mar- 
ried some  of  her  lady  friends  from  Greensboro  were  on  a 
visit  to  her.  One  afternoon  they  drove  down  to  the  mill 
to  see  the  process  of  dyeing  yarn,  it  being  something  new. 
They  walked  into  the  dye-house,  and  I  observed  that  my 
wife  did  not  recognize  me  with  my  overalls  on.  So  slip- 
ping up  beside  her  I  threw  my  arms  around  her  and  kissed 
her.  She  indignantly  drew  back  and  catching  up  a  '  wring- 
ing stick'  (which   is   about  the  size  of   a  man's   wrist  and 


THE    HISTORY    OF    ALAMANCE.  93 

made  out  of  the  best  and  hardest  hickory  wood),  made  for 
me,  and  but  for  my  making  myself  immediately  known  I 
would  have  paid  dearly  for  my  kiss. 

"  When  Holt  and  Carrigan  started  their  cotton  factory 
they  began  with  528  spindles.  A  few  years  later  16  looms 
were  added  When  I  left  the  mill,  in  186 1,  there  were  in 
operation  1,200  spindles  and  96  looms.  To  run  these,  the 
grist-mill  and  saw-mill  exhausted  all  the  power  of  Ala- 
mance creek. 

'*  My  father  trained  all  his  sons  in  the  manufacturing 
business.  As  we  grew  up  we  branched  out  for  ourselves 
and  built  other  mills.  But  the  plaid  business  in  our  fam- 
ily, and  I  may  say  in  ihe  State  of  North  Caiolina,  rose  from 
and  had  its  beginning  at  this  little  mill  on  the  banks  of 
Alamance,  with  its  little  copper  kettle  and  ordinary  wash- 
pot. 

"  1  am  glad  to  be  able  to  state  that  my  grandfather,  who 
so  bitterly  opposed  my  father  in  the  inauguration  of  his 
enterprise,  and  from  whom  he  would  never  bonow  a  dollar 
or  permit  him  to  endorse  his  paper — on  account  of  his 
promise  in  the  beginning  that  his  father  should  not  become 
involved  in  any  way  on  his  account — lived  to  see  and  re- 
joice ia  the  success  of  the  enterprise. 

"  When  the  machinery  for  the  facto: y  arrived,  the  mak- 
ers, Messrs.  Godwin,  Clark  &  Co.,  of  Patterson,  N.  J.,  sent 
an  expert  along  with  it  to  put  it  up  and  to  run  it  until  my 
father  became  competent  to  run  it  himself. 

"  This  expert  remained  about  18  months.  In  the  mean- 
time my  father  learned  how  to  run  it  himself — he  taking 
care  of  and  managing  the  mill  and  his  partner,  Mr.  Carri- 
gan,  the  store  and  the  keeping  of  the  books. 

"The  mill  raa  12  hours  a  day.  I  was  a  little  fellow — 
only  six  years  old — when  the  cotton  factory  started,  and 
well  do  I  remember  sitting  up  with  my  mother  waiting  for 
my  father  to  come  home  at  night.  In  the  winter  time  the 
mill  would  stop  at  7  o'clock,  and  after  stopping  he  would 


94  THE    HISTORY   OF    ALAMANCE. 

always  remain  in  the  mill  for  half  an  hour  to  *-ee  that  all 
the  lamps  were  out  and  the  stoves  in  such  a  condition  as 
there  would  be  no  danger  of  fire.  Then  he  would  ride  a 
mile  and  a  quarter  to  his  home. 

"  In  the  morning  he  would  eat  his  breakfast  by  daylight 
and  be  at  the  mill  by  6:30  o'clock  to  start  the  machinery 
goin^.  He  kept  this  habit  up  for  several  years  and  until 
his  mill  was  paid  for.  In  the  meantime  he  engaged  the 
services  of  a  bright  young  man  from  the  country  and  taught 
him  how  to  run  the  mill.  After  this  young  man  became 
competent  to  run  the  mill,  it  was  turned  over  to  him  and 
run  by  him  under  the  supervision  of  my  father." 

"  B.  J.  Lossing  says  in  his  '  Pictorial  Field  Book  of  the 
Revolution,'  published  1849  :  '  I  ^e^  tne  place  of  Pyles'  de- 
feat toward  noon,  crossed  the  Alamance  at  the  cotton  fac- 
tory of  Holt  &  Carrigan,  two  miles  distant.  Around  this 
mill  quite  a  village  of  neat  log  houses,  occupied  by  the  op- 
eratives, were  collected,  and  everything  had  the  appearance 
of  thrift.  I  went  in,  and  was  pleased  to  see  the  hands  of 
intelligent  white  females  employed  in  a  useful  occupation. 
Seldom  can  it  be  said  of  one  of  our  fair  sisters  South:  'She 
layeth  her  hands  to  the  spindle,  and  her  hands  hold  the 
distaff.'      1,350  spindles  and  12  looms  were  in  operation.' 

<l  Edwin  M.  Holt  was  a  strong  partisan  and  a  Whig,  but 
he  would  never  accept  office,  although  often  solicited  to 
do  so. 

"  In  1845  there  was  a  small  cotton  factory  built  at  Haw 
River,  N.  C,  having  only  528  spindles,  and  in  1858  the 
company  failed.  My  father  and  myself  purchased  the  prop- 
erty at  an  execution  sale  made  by  the  sheriff  of  the  county. 
In  1 861  I  bought  his  interest  in  this  property  and  moved 
to  Haw  River  to  live. 

"  From  time  to  time,  and  as  fast  as  I  made  money,  I  in- 
vested it  in  machinery.  At  the  present  time  there  are  15,- 
666  spindles  and  638  looms  in  full  operation.  We  are  now 
building  a  new  mill.     When  it  is  completed  we  will  have 


THE    HISTORY    OF    ALAMANCE.  95 

in  operation  at  Haw  River  22,834  spindles  and  940  looms. 
All  of  these  looms  will  be  running  on  colored  goods  of  va- 
rious kinds. 

"  The  whole  of  it  had  its  origin  in  the  small  start  made 
with  the  copper  kettle  and  the  wash  pot.  I  attribute  the 
success  crowning  my  efforts  in  a  great  degree  to  the  busi- 
ness methods  imparted  to  me  by  my  father." — Thos.  M. 
Holt. 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 


ALAMANCE   COUNTY. 

Alamance  was  separated  from  Orange  in  1848  by  popu- 
lar vote.  Mr.  Eli  Eulis  was  the  surveyor.  Mr.  Joe  Holt 
was  first  Sheriff,  Mr.  John  Faucett  was  County  Court  Clerk, 
Mr.  Baker  Greyson  was  Superior  Court  Clerk.  The  first 
court  was  held  in  Providence  Church.  The  Ratoon  was 
the  first  paper  published  in  the  county.  Capt.  E.  S.  Parker 
originated  the  Alamance  Gleaner. 

Be  it  said  for  Alamance,  here  was  begun  the  Revolution 
and  the  beginning  of  the  end  at  Alamance  Battle  Ground 
and  at  Pyle's  Hacking  Match.  Alamance  leads  the  State 
in  cotton  manufacturing. 

Note  :  I  leave  out  many  important  things  about  Ala- 
mance, I  cut  out  much  because  space  forbids  it.  The 
history  of  the  Civil  War  I  leave  untouched.  Alamance  was 
never  slack  in  sending  troops.  Her  soldiers  still  may  tell 
their  story  by  the  evening  fire  :  of  the  call  to  arms,  of  the 
Convention  in  Alamance  of  which  Mr.  E.  M.  Holt  was 
chairman,  and  how  its  delegate  was  instructed  to  vote 
against  secession.  The  Kuklux  Klan  propose  to  keep  their 
secrets  still.     So  let  them. 

The  period  of  the  reconstruction  is  not  yet  ripe  for  his- 
tory. It  must  lie  fallow.  This  is  America's  great  epic 
period.  Out  of  the  South  must  grow  the  literature  of  the 
future.  Conditions  are  here  for  it.  We  have  suffered,  we 
are  alive  to  tell  the  story. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 


A   HERO   OF  ALAMANCE. 

Lucian  Murry  was  a  young  man  at  the  outbreak  of  the 
civil  war.  In  1862  he  enlisted  in  the  first  North  Carolina 
troops,  Company  H.  Capt.  Miller,  in  Ripley's  old  brigade. 

Brigadier  General  Ripley  being  disabled  at  Charlottes- 
burg,  Gen.  Geo.  A.  Steward  took  command.  He  was  dis- 
abled at  Gettysburg,  then  succeeded  General  Ramseur,  who 
was  killed.'  At  the  surrender  at  Appomattox  Mr.  Murray's 
division  was  under  a  colonel,  acting  brigadier  general. 

At  the  surrender  Mr.  Murray  shook  hands  with  Colonel 
H.  A.  Brown,  saying:  "I  shall  not  surrender.  I'm  going 
home.  I  have  been  captured  twice  and  got  loose  and  I 
won't  surrender !"  "General  Lee,  standing  near  by  said: 
"  Young  man  you'll  be  taken  and  sent  back."  He  replied 
he  would  risk  it ;  so  walked  home. 

During  the  war  no  man  was  in  more  battles  or  did  better, 
braver  service  than  Mr.  Murray.  No  man  in  the  south  has 
had  more  thrilling  experience. 

When  on  a  sharpshooting  expedition  near  Littletown,  Va., 
he  was  captured  with  a  hundred.  As  the  Yankees  were 
leading  their  hundred  prisoners  away  Mr.  Murray  suddenly 
stepped  out  of  ranks  behind  a  white  oak.  Here  he  waited, 
watching  to  pick  his  chance  to  run.  But  they  saw  him 
when  he  raised  his  elbows  to  throw  off  his  knapsack;  and 
ordered  him  to  surrender  ;  but  dropping  every  impediment, 
he  ran.  "  I  always  believed  I  flew,"  said  Mr.  Murray. 
"My  toes  just  lightly  hit  the  ground.  The  bullets  whizzed 
about  me.  Every  one  that  burnt  me  I  ran  a  little  faster.  I 
ran  to  the  Rapidan  River,  leaving  Strawsburg  to  the  right. 
I  was  making  for  the  mountain  on  the  other  side.  It  was 
dark  now.     Plunging  into  the  river  which  was  up  a  foot  or 


98  THE    HISTORY    OF    ALAMANCE. 

two,  I  waded  across.  Grasping  a  bush  on  the  opposite  bank 
to  pull  up  by,  I  pulled  it  up  by  the  root?,  causing  me  to 
fall  backwards  into  the  water.  As  I  fell  I  heard  a  Yankee 
speak.  He  said  to  his  companion  :  '  Do  you  hear  that  d — d 
muskrat  ?'    '  Yes.'    Then  I  fluttered  the  water  just  like  one." 

"  Changing  my  mind  about  landing,  I  waded  down  the 
river  two  miles,  crossed  and  went  up  the  mountain  to  its 
very  top.  Looking  towards  the  south  I  saw  the  white  tents 
of  an  army.  Watching  closely  I  knew  them  to  be  the 
enemy. 

"  But  I  must  rest  now.  In  looking  out  for  a  place  to  lie 
down  I  ran  upon  three  men  asleep.  They  awoke  and 
throwing  up  their  hands  surrendered.  '  What  command 
do  you  belong  to?'  said  I.  'To  Ripley's  brigade,'  they 
replied.     '  Why,  hello,  boys,' — how  glad  I  was  to  see  them. 

"  I  tramped  about  the  mountain  for  six  days  before  I  eot 
back  to  my  place.  I  lived  well — begged  my  living — and 
was  treated  well.  I  was  put  on  the  dead  list,  reported  as 
killed  at  Middletown.  We  joined  our  command  at  Gor- 
donsville." 

Mr.  Murray  was  captured  again  at  Fisher's  Hill.  There 
a  band  of  sharpshooters  were  cut  cff.  Three  with  him  were 
taken  as  prisoners.  But  their  Yankee  guard  lost  his  way. 
Mr.  Murray  led  him  into  Confederate  troops  where  he  in 
turn  was  captured. 

Mr.  Murray  was  in  the  following  bat'les:  Seven  Pines 
fight  at  Richmond  ;  in  second  battle  of  Manassas ;  South 
Mountain  in  Maryland;  Charlottesburg,  Md.;  a  number  of 
battles  in  the  Valley  of  Virginia  ;  Chancellorsville  ;  Spot- 
sylvania Court  House  ;  in  the  two  battles  in  the  Wilder- 
ness ;  Gettysburg  ;  Fredericksburg  ;  Mine  Run  (or  Payne's 
Farm) ;  Appomattox,  where  he  did  not  surrender. 

He  was  wounded  at  Chancellorsville  once,  Spotsylvania 
Court  House  twice,  at  Mine  Run  once,  at  Sharpsburg  once, 
at  Fredericksburg  twice.  Once  in  Richmond  a  pickpocket 
stole  his  purse.     In  their  fight  for  it  the  villian  ripped  open, 


THE    HISTORY    OF    ALAMANCE.  99 

from  hip  to  hip,  the  abdomen  of  his  antagonist.  Holding 
his  vitals  in  his  left  arm,  with  his  right  hand  Murray  shot 
him  dead. 

But  his  greatest  troubles  were  yet  to  come.  His  hardest 
lime  was  in  Kirk's  war.  "  I  was  arrested  the  fourth  man  in 
the  company.  James  Boyd  first,  then  Lug  and  Sid  Scott, 
then  myself.  I  belonged  to  the  White  Biotherhood.  I 
never  had  a  disguise,  and  did  not  raid."  When  arrested  he 
was  carried  to  Company  Shops  (Burlington)  with  the  rest 
and  imprisoned  under  a  strong  guard — in  a  tent  with  four 
others,  John  G.  Albright,  Jim  Foust,  George  Rogers,  Wil- 
liam Patton,  James  Boyd  was  patrolled  at  Graham.  The 
Scotts  were  iri  other  tents. 

That  night  the  game  began  of  forcing  Lucian  Murray 
to  confess.  About  1 1  o'clock  Col.  Burgen  took  out  Wil- 
liam Patton  first ;  in  about  an  hour  George  Rogers  ;  at  one 
they  called  for  Murray,  demandiug  confession  in  regard  to 
Ku  Klux,  and  asking  him  to  break  his  oath  and  his  most 
sacred  honor. 

''  Leaving  J.  G  Albright  and  Jas.  Foust  in  the  tent,  not 
taking  them  at  all,  six  or  seven  men  took  me  to  Col.  Bur- 
gen's  tent,   where  he  demanded  a  confession.     I  refused. 

They  said  they  had  hung  two rascals  for  not  making 

a  confession  and  if  I  didn't  they'd  hang  me.  I  refused 
again.  They  put  a  rope  around  my  neck,  took  me  to  the 
woods  east  of  the  railroad — J.  R.  Ireland's  place  now — say- 
ing :  '  We  have  just  hung  Patton  and  Rogers  and  we  intend 
to  hang  you  if  you  don't  confess.' 

"  They  tied  my  hands  behind  me,  threw  the  rope  over  a 
limb  and  stretched  me  up,  letting  me  down  in  a  minute, 
after  choking  me  well.  They  again  demanded  confession. 
I  refused.  The  second  time  they  did  the  same.  I  refused 
again.  The  third  time  I  was  hung  till  unconscious.  When 
I  came  to,  I  was  lying  on  the  ground,  my  clothes  torn  off 
and  my  enemies  rubbing  me.  When  I  came  to,  so  that  I 
could  stand,  they  put  the  rope  around  my  neck  the  fourth 


TOO  THE    HISTORY    OF    ALAMANCE. 

time,  demanding  a  confession.  Said  Col.  Burgen  :  '  If  you 
don't  confess  I'll  hang  you  till  9  o'clock  to-morrow,  then 
bury  you  under  the  tree  upon  which  you  hung.  Have  you 
any  word  to  leave  your  friends?''  Said  Mr.  Murray:  "I 
have  no  confession  to  make,  no  word  to  leave  my  friends : 
but  if  you  hang  me  you  will  pay  the  same  penalty  before 
twenty-four  hours  yourself."  Colonel  Burgen  studied  a 
little  while,  then  said  :  "  Well,  you  are  a  young  man,  and 
I  don't  want  to  hang  you.  I  want  to  give  you  another 
•chance — till  8  o'clock  to  morrow  night.'  I  was  carried  to 
the  tent  where  Albright  and  Foust  were.  They  were  not 
taken  out.  Rogers  and  Patton,  we  thought,  were  killed, 
but  they  were  only  tied  out.  At  sun-up  they  were 
brought  in." 

At  9  o'clock  the  next  night  Colonel  Burgen  and  his  men 
tried  again  to  make  Mr.  Murray  confess,  with  pistols  drawn 
in  his  face.  "  I  would  not  yield.  I  never  once  thought  of 
doing  it.  I  did  not  care  to  confess.  They  never  asked  me 
again. 

"  I  was  kept  (at  Burlington)  there  six  days,  then  canied 
to  Raleigh  and  put  under  Colonel  Clark's  guard;  nobody 
taken  from  Alamance  but  little  Dr.  Wilson,  William  Patton 
and  me. 

"  I  stayed  at  Raleigh  several  days.  Colonel  Clark  de- 
manded a  confession.  I  said  no.  Then  I  was  carried  to 
W.  W.  Holden's  private  office.  He  demanded  a  confession. 
I  refused.  He  offered  me  a  thousand  dollars  for  all  I  knew 
;about  the  Ku  Klux.     I  told  Holden  I  was  not  for  sale. 

"  Governor  Holden  told  Colonel  ClaTk  to  send  me  home 
till  further  orders.  There  I  remained  until  United  States 
Judge  Brooks  issued  a  writ  of  habeas  corpus  ordering  us — 
75  or  100 — Ku  Klux  before  him  for  trial.  State  courts 
.could  not  try  us.    We  were  tried  in  Salisbury  and  released. 

"  That  fall  Holden  was  impeached.  I  was  summoned  to 
Raleigh  at  the  commencement  of  that  trial.  We  had  to 
-bear  our  own  expenses. 


THE    HISTORY   OF    ALAMANCE.  IOr 

"As  soon  as  that  trial  was  over  I  was  summoned  to  Wash- 
ington City  before  the  Outrage  Committee,  with  Messrs- 
Edwin  M.  Holt,  Daniel  Worth,  David  Kerr,  and  George 
Rogers ;  the  Republicans  were  Messrs.  W.  R.  Albright,, 
Col.  W.  A.  Albright,  Jimmy  Fonville,  Sauren  Bradshaw. 
Among  the  negroes  were  Cas.  Holt  and  Alex  Ruffin. 

"The  Outrage  Committee  decided  in  favor  of  the  Demo- 
crats, that  there  was  no  racial  trouble  existing  between  the 
whites  and  negroes  South." 

Mr.  Murray  resides  in  East  Burlington — a  gentleman, 
unassuming,  sympathetic.  He  overseers  a  squad  of  hands 
in  working  the  public  roads — hard  work.  At  the  close  of 
the  war  he  had  fifteen  hundred  dollars  in  gold.  He  might 
have  been  rich  had  he  invested  that  in  cotton  or  some  like 
commodity,  when  using1  it  to  pay  his  expenses  of  livings 
while  being  forced  around  to  make  confession  at  the  knees 
of  the  Priests  of  Tyranny. 

Mr.  Murray  has  never  been  given  a  public  office,  except 
road  overseer  in  August  sunshine,  at  a  paltry  pittance. 
But  he  is  a  kindly,  happy  man,  courageous  still  and  true 
as  steel. 

Last  winter  he  went  North  to  have  an  operation  per- 
formed. A  great  lump  as  large  as  a  quart  measure  had 
grown  on  his  neck — the  result  of  his  hanging  at  the  hands 
of  Kirk's  men.  At  the  hospital  he  was  told  that  he  had; 
one  chance  to  live  and  nine  to  die.  He  had  suffered  in- 
tensely ;  could  not  eat  or  sleep.  He  chose  to  risk  it.  His 
jugular  vein  was  cut  in  two.  He  is  too  brave  to  die.  Truly, 
he  ought  to  live  forever — a  man  of  his  word  and  one  who 
is  not  at  all  afraid. 


COL.  JOHN   STOCKARD. 


PART  II 


FAMILY  HISTORY. 


CHAPTER   I. 


ALBRIGHT    FAMILY    HISTORY, 


The  House  of  Hapsburge  and  Lorain  derive  their  origin 
from — 

Ethico  I.,  Duke  of  Alsatico,  by  Childeric,  whose  blood 
flows  through  the  veins  of — 

Adelbert,  Ethico  II, 

Hugh,  Count  of  Alsatico. 

Goutran,  Count  of  Hapsburg,  died  945. 

Landeriman,  died  971. 

Bathoton,  died  1027. 

Weheras,  died  1096. 

Otho  II.     King  IV. 

Albert  III  (The  Merciful),  1273,  married  Ida. 

Rodolph  L,  Count  of  Hapsburg,  married  Agnes  Staff. 

Albrert,  called  Albrecht  ("The  Wise"),  died  1240. 

Rodolph  II.,  "The  Crimes,"  killed  1273.  He  married 
first  Agnes  of  Hohenburg,  then  Agnes  of  Burgundy.  Their 
eight  children  were  :  Hedgwigh,  or  Otho  IV;  Judith,  Mer- 
catas  King  of  Bohemia ;  Albert,  called  Albrech  I,  killed 
1308;  his  wife  was  Elizabeth  of  Casenthing ;  Agnes  mar- 
ried Albert,  Duke  of  Saxony  ;  Rodolph  married  Agnes  of 
Bohemia,  Matilda  died  1323;  Clenarton — Charles  Martel. 

When  southern  Germany,  Switzerland  and  France  were 
laid  waste  by  the  thirty  years'  war,  many  families  left  to 
search  for  homes  elsewhere.  Some  settled  by  the  way,  but 
eventually  came  to  America.  About  Lake  Lamond  was 
their  old  home. 

Among  many  other  emigrants  they  came  and  were  first 
colonized  in  Virginia,  in  1620.  In  1740  there  were  Al- 
brights in  Albany,  New  York.  In  Buffalo,  New  York, 
there  is  an  Albright  homestead  over  a  hundred  years  in 
the  family.     These  Albrights  came   from   Canada  to  this 


THE   HISTOEY    OF    ALAMANCE-  105 

place.  In  New  Berlin,  Pa.,  there  is  a  religions  denomina- 
tion founded  by  Jacob  Albright— the  Evangelical  Associa- 
tion, from  which  the  United  Evangelical  Church  sprang. 
It  is  somewhat  like  the  Methodist  Episcopal.  Their  semi- 
nary, "  Central  College,"  of  New  Berlin,  Pa.,  was  in  opera- 
tion as  early  as  1855  ;  it  is  co-educational. 

The  Albrights,  usually,  are  perfect  brunettes,  with  curly 
hair  and  brilliant  eyes.  They  are  fond  of  music,  love 
money,  and  usually  have  it  to  spend.  They  love  to  rule, 
and  make  good  leaders:  A  large  per  cent,  of  the  people  of 
Alamance  have  Albright  blood  in  them. 

The  ancestor  to  whom  we  trace  was  Hendrich  Albrech, 
born  1716,  married  Anna  Folsom.    They  had  five  children: 

I.  John,  went  to  Pennsylvania;  the  only  one  to  stay  there. 

II.  Jacob,  lived  in  New  York. 

III.  Frederick,  New  York  and  Pennsylvania. 

IV.  Phillip,  New  York  and  Pennsylvania. 

V.  Henry,  New  York  and  Pennsylvania. 

I  will  consider  only  the  descendants  of  John  and  Jacob, 
and  for  convenience  will  take  Jacob  first. 

Jacob  Albright's  children  were  four— Jacob,  John,  Frank 
and  Amos.     They  all  lived  in  New  York  at  first. 

1.  Jacob  went  to  Plymouth  county,  Pa.  His  children 
were  Samuel  Albright,  Elizabeth  Albright,  Sara  Albright, 
Martha  Albright,  Margaret  Albright  and  Ella  Albright 
(married  Samuel  Rowand). 

2.  John  Albright  went  to  Canada  1800. 

3.  Frank  went  to  Canada  ;  was  at  Warnock  1802. 

4.  Amos  went  to  Ontario.  His  children  were  Jacob  Al- 
bright, John  Albright,  Susanna  Albright,  Peggy  Albright, 
Molly  Albright,  Lena  Albright,  Kate  Albright  and  Nancy 
Albright. 

Now  Jacob's  brother  John  had  sons — 

1.  Ludwig,  born  1731,  Nov.  11.     (See  his  family.) 

2.  Henry. 

3.  Jacob,  born  1748. 


106  THE    HISTORY    OF    ALAMANCE. 

4.  Was  Capt.  William  Albright  their  brother?  (See 
Stoner's  and  St.  Paul's  church  records.) 

Jacob  Albiight  (born  1748)  married  Sophia  Katharine 
Welder  (born  1749).  They  came  from  Pennsylvania  to 
Orange  county,  N.  C,  before  the  Revolutionary  War. 
They  had  eight  children — 

1.  Sophia  A.  married  Ludwig  Clapp;  had  one  son,  John. 

2.  Jacob  married  Sallie  Wolf  and  settled  where  George  M. 

Albright  now  lives  on  Rock  Creek.     They  had  chil- 
dren— 

a.  William,  married   Miss   Polly  Wood,  at  whose  death 

he  married  Nellie  Stockard.  They  lived  east  of 
Bethel  Church. 

b.  John,  married  Miss  Reitzell,  moved  to  Texas  and  was 

scalped  by  the  Indians. 

c.  Solomon,  married   Sallie  Fogleman,  settled  at  Sandy 

Run. 

d.  Betsy,  married  John  Fogleman,  settling  on  their  land 

lying  west  and  against  Friendship  church  and  Acad- 
emy lots. 

e.  Nancy,  married  David  Coble,  settling  on  the  land  now 

owned  by  Henry .  Holt's  heirs,  but  moving  to  west 
bank  of  Haw  River,  where  Nathaniel  Roberson  now 
lives. 

J.  Polly,  married  Peter  Shoffner,  settled  at  Edwin  Holt 
place,  on  Stinking  Quarter. 

g:  Katie,  married  Capt.  John  Albright,  settled  on  Stink- 
ing Quarter,  south  of  Walter  Holt's  barn  ;  later 
moved  to  Mississippi. 

//.  Sophia,  married  Henry  Loy. 

3.  John   married  Lizzie   Graves,   settled  at  J.  R.  Garrett 

place.     Their  children — 

a.  Elizabeth  married  "  Brickhouse  "  George  Clapp  ;  set- 

tled near  Brick  Church. 

b.  Barbara  married    John    Foust ;    settled    near    Law's 

Church.  Her  second  husband  was  Henry  Garrett. 
Thev  lived  on  her  father's  land. 


THE    H1STOKY    OF    ALAMANCE.  IO7 

c.  Penna  married  first  Wm.  Clapp,  a  prominent  man  ; 
her  husband  died,  leaving  her  with  one  chi1d,  Abram. 
Then  she  married  Henry  Swing. 

4.  Joseph  A.  married  Barbara  Basin,  settled  where  Capt  J. 

A.  Albright  now  lives.     They  had  three  children. 

a.  Sallie  married  Jas.  Nicholson  and  moved  to  Georgia. 

b.  John  married  Betsy  Albright  settled  first  on  south  side 

of  Great  Alamance,  then  near  Spring  Meeting  House, 
at  length  went  to  Indiana. 

c.  Andrew  married  Sallie  Shoffner,  at  her  death  he  mar- 

ried Winnie  Isley. 

5.  Daniel  A.  married  Katy  Loy.    They  had  nine  children. 

a.  Jacob  Albright  married  Sallie  Albright. 

b.  George  married  Patsy  Albright. 

c.  William. 

d.  Sophia  A.  married  Daniel  Albright. 

e.  Daniel  married  Millie  Holt. 
f.  Henry  married  Lettie  Foust. 

g.   Lewis  married  Elizabeth  Albright. 
h.  Elias  married  Tempe  Hobbs. 
i.  Joel. 
(5.   Henry  married  Mary  Gibbs.     They  had  six  children. 

a.  Jacob  married  Sallie  Nease. 

b.  Nicholas  married  Aunie  Rogers. 

c.  Katie  married  John  Stockard. 

d.  Lizzie  married  Wm.  Sharp. 

e.  Joseph  married  Nancy  Whitsett. 
f.   Polly  married  George  Clendenen. 

7.  George  Albright  married  Katie  Holt.     They  had  ten 
children. 

a.  William  married  Louisa  Wood. 

b.  Polly  married  Seymour  Puryear. 

c.  Hannah  married  Anderson  Thompson. 

d.  Alex  married  Rachael  Thompson. 

e.  Lettie  married  John  Patterson. 

f.  Nellie  married  Billy  Eulis. 


108  THE    HISTORY    OF    ALAMAXCK. 

g.  Tamar  married  Enoch  Crutch  field. 
h.  Alvis  married  Polly  Sto:kard. 
i.  Michael  married  Cornelia  Clendenen. 
j.  Sallie  married  James  Albright. 
8.   Katy  married  John  Sharp. 

a.  Mary  married  Jacob  Friddle. 

b.  Katy  married  John  Cole. 

c.  Penna  married  Mr.  Mangum. 

d.  Barbara  married  Duncan  Cameron. 
c.  Sallie. 

William  and  his  wife  Louisa  Wood  Albright — 

a.  Elizabeth  married  Lewis  Albright — four  children. 

b.  Julia  married  David  Carter — nine  children. 

c.  Margaret  married  Calvin  Johnson. 

d.  Tamar  married  Larkin  Vestal — two  children. 

e.  Durant  Hatch  married  Sylvina  Siler — Walter  Hatch, 

Henry  Lee,  Loretta,  Decette,  Frank,  William,  Adol- 
phus,  Bertha,  Maud  Durant. 

f.  Wm.  Gaston  married  Ann  Trolmger. 

g.  Elenor  married  Thomas  C.  Dixon. 

h.  Mary  married  Wm.  Johnson — one  son  Robert.  A.  J. 
Jones — two  children. 

i.  Martha  married  John  Wood — three  children. 

/.  Emily  Ann  married  W.  J.  Stockard — seven  children. 

k.  Captain  Henry  of  61. 

LUDWICK  married  Anna  Maria  Keller.  Their  children 
were  eight — John,  Anna  Barbara,  Phillip,  Jacob,  John  Lud- 
wig,  Catharine,  George,  Daniel. 

Anna  Barbara  married  Elias  Powell,  whose  children  were 
George,  Elias,  Ben,  Phillip. 

George  Powell's  children  are  Nelson  Albright  Powell 
(married  May  Perkins  Sumpter),  Joseph  T.  Powell,  John 
Powell,  Dr.  Abney  Powell,  James  E.  Powell,  Geo.  Sumpter 
Powell  (married  Alice  Blackwelder,  Asheville,  N.  C.) 

Anna  Barbara's  brother  Daniel's  children  were  Sarah, 
(married  Dr.  Wm.  Montgomery),  whose  son  is  Dr.  D.  A. 
Montgomery. 


THE    HISTORY    OF    ALAMANCE.  IO9 

HENRY  was  the  sixth  child  of  Jacob  Albright,  (see  above). 
His  children  and  grandchildren  are  in  order  thus: 

I.  Jacob  married  Sallie  Nease,  moved  to  Bedford  county, 
Tenn. 

a.  Jerome. 

b.  Candice. 

II.  Nicholas  married  Annie  Rogers. 

a.  Jas.  married  Sallie  Albright — William  Albright; 

b.  John  Gibbs  married  Nancy  Jane  Scott,  daughter  of 

Hon.  John  Scott.     Their  oldest  child  was  Mrs.  Mar- 
garet Albright  Stockard. 

c.  William  married   (i)   Barbara   Basin,  (2)  Sallie  Free- 

lard. 

d.  Henry  married  (1)  Hanna  Kirkpatrick,  (2)  Mrs.  Katy 

Long. 

III.  Katy  married  John  Stockard,  his  second  wife. 

a.  Jane  married  Jacob    Long.     Their    children — D.  A. 

Long,    W.  S.  Long,    B.  F.  Long,   J.  A.  Long,  Geo. 
Long,  Bettie  Clendenen. 

b.  Gibbs  married  Polly  Johnson.    Their  children — John, 

Henry,   Jane,   Samuel,  Robert,   Tulia   Ann,  James, 
Jackson,  Jerome. 

c.  Polly  married  Coble. 

d.  Peggy  married  Bradshaw.     Their  children — George, 

Samuel  and  Michael. 

e.  Nancy  married  Clapp. 

J.  William  married  Cornelia  Whitsett,  moved  to  Missouri. 
g.  Lettie  Ann  married  J.  R.  Garrett. 
h.  John  Richard  married  (1)  Cornelia  Kirkpatrick,  (2) 
Sallie  Dixon. 

IV.  Lizzie  Albright  married  Wm.  Sharp. 

a.  Henry  married  (1)  Miss  Finely,  (2)  Miss  Glass. 

b.  Jerry  married  Jane  Albright. 

c.  Eli  married  Miss  Tate. 

d.  William  married  Miss  Isley. 

e.  John  married  (1)  Steele,  (2)  Isley. 


HO  THE    HISTORY    OF    ALAMANCE. 

/.   Mary  married  Philip  Isley. 

g.  Elizabeth  married  Jerry  Shirp. 

V.  Joseph  married  Nancy  VVhitsett. 

a.  Jane  married  Anthony  Rich. 

b.  Elizabeth. 

c.  Mary  married  Craven. 

d.  William. 
c.  Gibbs. 

f.  Katharine. 

g.  Kizzie. 
//.   Youth  y. 
i.    Emsley. 

VI.  Polly  married  George  Clendenen. 

a.  Mellisia    married    (i)    John    Staley — W.  W.   Staley. 

(2)  Archibald  Cook — John,  Duncan,  Bob. 

b.  George  married  Mary  Roberson. 

c.  J.  N.  H.  married  Bettie  Long. 

HON.  WILLIAM  ALBRIGHT  was  born  October  1,  1791,  and 
raised  near  Mt.  Hermon  Church.  He  died  October  5,  1856. 
In  his  youth  he  lived  some  time  in  eastern  Carolina.  When 
he  returned  he  married  Louisa  Wood.  His  occupation  was 
farming  and  merchandising.  He  had  a  wide  acquaintance 
with  leading  men  of  his  time  and  country.  Rencher,  at 
one  time  Provisional  Governor  of  Mexico  and  later  a  con- 
gressman, was  among  his  friends.  He  was  good  to  the 
poor,  left  thousands  of  dollars  uncollected.  He  was  of  a 
compromising  nature,  was  loved  by  everybody  and  was 
voted  for  by  others  besides  his  own  party  men,  the  Whigs. 

Hon.  William  was  a  Whig  indeed,  for  "  Whig  "  means 
progress.  He  organize!  the  first  Temperance  Society  in 
North  Carolina.  It  still  lives— the  "  Pleasant  Hill  Tem- 
perance Society,"  the  very  oldest  in  the  State.  His  tem- 
prance  views  was  due  to  an  old  man  named  White  from 
Haw  Fields.  He  was  very  likely  the  first  candidate  for 
public  office  in  North  Carolina  who  did  not  treat  and  who 
would  not  use  whiskey  out  on  the  campaign      The  first 


THE    HISTORY    OF    ALAMANCE.  Ill 

railroad  meeting  in  North  Carolina  was  held  at  the  home 
of  William  Albright.  There  Archibald  Murphy,  Dr.  Joseph 
Caldwell  and  others  of  our  "simple  great  ones  gone  forever 
and  ever  by  "  met  and  discussed  plans  of  building  a  railroad 
from  Morehead  through  the  centre  of  the  State  to  the  moun- 
tains, said  Hon.  Giles  Mebane,  "it  would  have  reached 
Asheville  in  the  fnd." 

William  Albright  strongly  opposed  the  repealing  of  the 
Missouri  Compromise.  He  wrote  his  sentiments  to  Judge 
Carr.  "  There  never  would  have  been  any  war  about  sla- 
very," said  his  son,  Dr.  Albright,  "  if  it  had  not  been  for 
officious  meddling." 

Capt.  Henry  Clay  Albright,  son  of  William,  was  born  July 
13,  1842.  His  father  was  the  popular  Whig  Representative 
and  Senator  from  Chatham  County  before  the  war  of  '61,  as 
also  was  his  brother  Wm.  Gaston  Albright. 

No  brighter  nor  purer  youth  was  ever  raised  in  North 
Carolina  than  Capt.  Henry  Albright.  When  the  war  of 
'61  came  on  he  was  among  the  first  to  volunteer  in  one  of 
the  first  companies  gotten  up  in  North  Carolina,  "  The 
Chatham  Boys."  He  helped  to  raise  this  company  and  left 
home  as  second  Lieutenant,  in  Vance's  Regiment.  Soon 
after  he  became  Captain.  He  won  the  high  regard  of 
Vance,  and  was  to  have  been  his  private  secretary.  When 
Vance's  forces  were  at  New  Bern  he  was  sent  home  to 
gather  recruits.  He  wrote  to  Vance  saying;  he  could  get 
no  troops  around  Cane  Creek  for  they  were  a  nest  of  Tories, 
all  on  the  other  side.  The  Yankees  captured  the  Confed- 
erate train,  intercepted  his  letter,  and  published  it  in  all  the 
northern  newspapers. 

Capt.  Henry  Albright  loved  Vance  and  told  a  pleasing 
incident  of  that  great  man's  sympathy  for  his  private  sol- 
diers. After  the  New  Bern  fight  he  came  across  one  of  Cap- 
tain Henry's  men,  Jack  Waters,  wounded.  Taking  him  up 
behind  him  on  his  horse  he  carried  him  to  a  safe  place  and 
left  him.     Waters  was  never  heard  of  since. 


112  THE    HISTORY   OF    ALAMANCE. 

Capt.  Albright  was  in  many  battles.  He  went  into  the 
battle  of  Gettysbuig  with  one  hundred  men  and  came  out 
with  only  six.  He  was  wounded  at  the  Squirrel  Level 
skirmish  near  the  Johnson  house  not  far  from  Petersburg, 
and  died  in  twenty- seven  days.  His  wound  was  in  his  head, 
his  hat  bears  the  bullet-marks  and  blood.  He  died  1864. 
Dr.  Albright  has  his  hat  and  uniform,  also  a  sword  he  cap- 
tured from  a  Union  officer  of  rank.  In  the  pocket  of  his 
coat  is  to  be  found  a  copy  of  the  Fayetteville  Observer  con- 
taining Vance's  proclamation  calling  in  deserters. 

*LUDWICK  Albright,  was  born  November  nth,  1731. 
Anna  Martha  Keller,  was  born  November  nth,  1733. 
They  were  married  August  18th,  1751. 
Their  first  born,  John  Albright,  was  born  October  21st, 

1752. 

Anna  Barbara  Albright,  was  born  June  18th,  1754. 
Phillip  Albright,  was  born  February  13th,  1756. 
Jacob  Albright,  was  born  November  8th  1758. 
John  Ludwick  Albright,  was  born  February  19th,  1761. 
Catharine  Albright,  was  born  August  15th,  1763. 
George  Albright,  was  born  January  18th,  1766. 
Daniel  Albright,  was  born  January  30th,  1771. 
Elizabeth  Clapp,  was  born  January  21st,  1774. 

Daniel  Albright  married  Elizabeth  Clapp,  October  9th, 
1792. 

Sarah  Albright,  was  born  December  the  1st,  1797,  and 
Married  Dr.  William  Montgomery,  April  the  2«th,  1814. 

John  Albright,  died  September  the  25th,  1826. 

Barbara  Albright,  married  Elias  Powell  of  Burke  County, 
Asheville  or  Culpepper  County. 

Philip  Albright,  died  November  the  22nd,  1820. 

Jacob  Albright,  died  September  the  4th,  1839. 

Ludwick  Albright,  died  April  the  29th,  181 6. 

♦Taken  from  the  old  German  Bible  now  at  Dr.  Montgomery's. 


THE    HISTORY   OF    ALAMANCE.  II3 

Catharine  Albright,  died  March  the  15th,  1839. 
George  Albright,  died  August  the  27th,  1835. 
Daniel  Albright,  died — 

NoTe:  The  above  is  a  fac  simile  of  statement  taken  from  the  old 
German  Bible  now  in  hands  of  Dr.  D.  A.  Montgomery.  Dr.  D.  H.  Al- 
bright owns  its  companion,  that  is,  Jacob  Albright's  Bible  brought  from 
Germany  both  of  them,  and  very  well  preserved. 


CHAPTER  III, 


Ludwig  Albright  was  born  1731,  November  n,  and  died 
November  16,  1810,  being  seventy-niue  years  old. 

Anna  Maria  Keller  was  born  November  11,  1733.  and 
died  June  10,  1803,  being  seventy  years  old.  They  were 
married  August  18,  1751,  raised  eight  children. 

I.  John  Albright  their  first  child  was  born  October  21, 
1752,  and  died  September  25,  1826,  being  73  years  old. 

II.  Anna  Barbara  Albright  was  born  June  18,  1754  an^ 
died 

III.  Phillip  Albright  was  born  February  13,  1756,  and 
died  1825. 

IV.  Jacob  Albright  was  born  November  8,  1758,  and 
died  September  1839. 

V.  John  Ludwig  Albright  was  born  February  17,  1761, 
and  died  April  1816. 

VI.  Catharine  Albright  was  born  August  16,  1763,  and 
died  March  1839. 

VII.  George  Albright  was  born  January  18,  1760,  and 
died  August  1835. 

Ludwig  Albright  lived  and  died  near  Alamance  factory, 
John  his  son  lived  near  by. 

Jacob  went  to  Tennessee  (or  Georgia  ?) 

Anna  Barbara  married  Elias  Powell  and  went  to  Burke 
County,  North  Carolina. 

George  was  a  gunsmith  acd  lived  at  the  Van  Mont- 
gomery place. 

Daniel  Albright  and  his  wife  Elizabeth  Clapp  Albright, 
had  a  daughter — Sara,  who  married  Dr.  William  Mont- 
gomery. Dr.  William  Montgomery  was  born  1788;  Sara 
Albright,  his  wife,  was  born  1797.  The  dates  of  the  birth 
of  the  children  are:  Nancy  Elizabeth,  1815;  Sara  Louisa, 
1816;  Daniel  Archibald,    18 19;  Delilah  Albright,    1820; 


THE    HISTORY   OF    ALAMANCE.  115 

James  Rudy  1823 ;  Mary  Ann,  1826 ;  Martha  Harriet, 
1828;  Cornelia  Riley,  1833;  Barbara  Maria,  1836;  Wil- 
liam Van,  1840. 

Lugwig  Albright  had  a  son  Jacob  born  1758,  and  went 
to  Tennessee.  Did  he  go  to  Georgia  in  1812  ?  One  Jacob 
Albright  from  Orange  County,  North  Carolina,  went  there 
in  181 2  I  have  no  account  of  what  became  of  Ludwig's 
sons,  Jacob  and  John  Ludwig  Albright.  A  Jacob  Albright 
married  Mary  Dixon.  Their  children  were:  Oswald, 
Orange,  Welder,  Matilda,  Meranda,  Caroline  (who  married 
J.  R.  Lewell),  Jacob  A.  and  Jonathan. 

Oswald  has  a  son,  W.  H.  Albright  of  Luthersville,  Geor- 
gia, his  son  is  Jacob  Amos  Albright. 

The  Jacob  Albright  who  went  to  Georgia  from  Orange 
County  North  Carolina,  in  1812,  had  several  children  when 
he  moved,  among  whom  was  a  Jacob. 


CHAPTER  IV. 


MONTGOMERY    FAMILY. 

Scotch-Irish  ;  emigrated  from  Mongomo,  in  Scotland  ; 
came  to  Pennsylvania  about  1680.  Win.  Montgomery 
came  from  Pennsylvania  to  Guilford  county,  N.  C,  locat- 
ing near  North  Buffalo,  three  miles  from  Bethel  church, 
before  the  Revolution.  His  wife  rode  here  on  horseback 
from  Reading,  Pa.  They  had  but  one  son,  whose  name 
was  William.  They  are  buried  at  Bethel  church,  in  Guil- 
ford. 

William  was  married  twice.  His  first  wife  was  a  Miss 
Gray.  They  had  four  children — William,  Hugh,  Patter- 
son and  Hannah. 

William  married  Sara  Albright,  only  daughter  of  "  Post- 
master Daniel"  Albright.  He  was  born  1789,  died  1843, 
buried  at  Brick  church.  He  was  a  physician,  lived  at  Lib- 
erty, laid  off  and  named  the  town  of  Liberty,  in  Randolph 
county,  N.  C. 

He  moved  to  Burlington,  a  waste  county.  Only  a  path 
led  by  it  then,  running  from  the  east  to  Greensboro,  or 
Guilford  Court  House.  .William  Montgomery  was  a  Dem- 
ocrat, elected  as  Senator  for  ten  terms  in  annual  succeeding 
sessions.  He  was  only  once  beaten  in  the  election — by 
James  Mebane,  a  Whig,  the  father  of  Giles  Mebane.  Hon. 
William's  first  opponent  was  Hon.  Michael  Holt.  He  was 
a  member  of  the  United  States  Congress  eight  terms.  His 
district  was  composed  of  Wake,  Person  and  Orange.  He 
was  first  elected  over  Daniel  M.  Barringer  of  Wake  ;  next 
over  Washington  Haywood  of  Wake,  an  able  lawyer  aud 
brilliant  orator  ;  then  over  William  A.  Graham. 

Congressman  Montgomeryjwent  to  Washington  on  horse- 
back, fording  the  river  at  Harper's  ferry.  He  was  in  Con- 
gress at  the  time  of  the  establishment  of  the  sub-treasury 


THE    HISTORY    OF    ALAMANCE.  117 

department  and  favored  President  Jackson's  movement  in 
regard  to  it. 

Mr.  Montgomery  and  his  wife,  Sara  Albright,  had  ten 
children,  three  50ns  and  seven  daughters — only  two  living, 
Dr.  Win  Van  and  Dr.  Daniel  A. 

I.  Nancy  Elizabeth  married  Gen.  Benj.  Trollinger ;    three 

children — 

1.  Sallie  married  Mr.  StalHngs. 

2.  John  died  single. 

3.  Fanny  married  Matt.  Elder. 

II.  Sara  married  Mr.  Bolden  ;  no  children. 

III.  Daniel  A.  married  Josephine  Berry,  daughter  of  Capt. 
Berry  of  Orange,  a  Senator  when  Alamance  was  divided 
and  the  N.  C.  Railroad  run.    They  had  seven  children — 

1.  John  Berry  Montgomery  married  Laura  Hardin. 

2.  Ida  Estelle  married  Ludwig  Somers  of  Burlington. 

3.  William  I.  married  Esper  Sellars  ;  live  in  Greensboro, 

N.  C. 

4.  Rosa  Bessie  married    Henry  Lafayette   Holt  of  Bur- 

lington. 

5.  Walter  Lee,  of  Chicago,  was  a  soldier  at  the  fall  of 

Santiago,  Cuba. 

6.  James  Patterson  married  Elizabeth  Turrentine,  daugh- 

ter of  Capt.  Jas.  A.  Turrentine  ;   live  in  Burlington. 

7.  Thomas  C.  married  Julia  Elizabeth  Howland  ;  live  at 

Graham. 

IV.  Delilah  married  Benj.  Roney  ;  three  children — 

1.  Fanny  married  John  Willis. 

2.  Mollie  married  Sidney  Holt. 

3.  Daniel  was  killed  in  war  of  '61. 

V.  James  Rudy  Montgomery  married  Cornelia  Trollinger 

They  had  four  children — 

1.  Elizabeth  married  Elbridge  Freeland. 

2.  Sallie  died  single. 

3.  Daniel  married  Miss  Trollinger. 

4.  James  not  mairied. 


Il8  THE    HISTORY    OF    ALAMANCE. 

VI.  Mary  Ann. 

VII.  Martha  Harriet. 

VIII.  Cornelia  married  Wesley  Holt,  one  son,  James  Holt 
of  St.  Louis. 

IX.  Barbara  Maria  died  single. 

X.  William  Van  married  Anna  Jordan,  of  Philadelphia. 
To  go  back,  Dr.  Congressman  William  Montgomery  had 

two  brothers  one  sister — Hugh,  Patterson  and  Hannah. 

II.  Hugh,  brother  of  Hon.  William,  volunteered  and  went 
to  the  war  of  1812.  Returning  from  the  war  he 
changed  his  name,  calling  himself  Hugh  Kyle.  He 
was  for  ten  years  post-master  in  Asheville,  Burke  county. 
Then  moved  to  Rome,  Ga.     He  was  a  harness  maker. 

III.  Patterson — James  Patterson  Montgomery — was  a  fine 
cabinet  maker— made  cymbals.  He  married  Sarah 
Brower,  of  Liberty,  a  daughter  of  Hon.  John  Brower, 
a  Congressman.  They  had  two  sons  and  two  daught- 
ers. Moving  to  Fulton  county,  111.,  he  died  about 
1845.  One  son  was  killed  in  war  of  '6i;  one  daughter 
married  Rev.  Sidney  Y.  McMasters,  of  Randolph 
county,  N.  C,  first  a  Methodist  Protestant  minister 
then  became  an  Episcopalian.  He  was  a  professor  of 
language  in  a  college  of  Iowa.  One  daughter  married 
the  sheriff  of  Fulton  County,  111.     One  son  died  single. 

IV.  Hannah  married  Joseph  Bennefield,  ot  Guilford  county, 
N.  C,  moved  to  Georgia  in  181 2,  thence  to  Maryland, 
and  died  eighty-six  years  old 

Dr.  Daniel  A.  Montgomery  is  one  of  the  oldest  residents  of 
Burlington.  His  great  grandfather,  his  grandfather,  brothers, 
sisters  and  children  have  already  been  mentioned.  He  was  for 
many  years  a  physician  with  a  very  large  practice.  He  repre- 
sented his  people  many  times  in  the  General  Assembly.  Dr. 
Montgomery  was  a  Democrat,  but  he  felt  no  hide-bound 
servitude  to  party  principles.  Though  a  Democrat  he 
favored  the  Whig  idea  of  progress  and  assured  the  people 
he  was  for  internal  improvement.     In  1848  he  was  elected 


THE    HISTORY    OF    ALAMANCE-  119 

by  a  two  hundred  majority — a  very  unusual  surplus  in 
Orange  county  where  the  elections  were  close — six  or  eight 
was  considered  a  good  majority.  In  the  Legislature  of  1849 
he,  of  course,  true  to  his  promise  and  to  his  own  instinct 
of  right  principle,  voted  for  the  construction  of  the  North 
Carolina  Railroad.  He  was  at  one  time  elected  to  oppose 
the  No-nothings  He  was  the  first  to  advocate  the  stock 
law  in  Alamance,  then  very  unpopular.  He  also  was  the 
first  to  favor  working  the  public  roads  by  taxation. 

Dr.  Montgomery  is  a  man  opposed  to  all  forms  of  im- 
perialism. He  has  opposed  the  election  of  municipal  office 
holders  by  the  Legislature.  He  is  an  old  time,  high  toned 
gentleman ;  courtly  in  his  bearing,  kindly  in  his  speech, 
rather  tall,  straight,  with  gold  gray  hair  and  blue  eyes. 


CHAPTER  V 


HON.    GILES    MEBANE. 


Hon.  Giles  Mebane  was  born  in  Orange  county,  now 
Alamace,  in  February  1809.  He  graduated  at  the  Univer- 
sity of  North  Carolina  in  1832.  In  1837  he  married  Miss 
*Mary  C.  Yancey,  daughter  of  Hon.  Bartlett  Yancey,  of  Cas- 
well County.  He  moved  to  Caswell  from  Alamance  in  the 
fall  of  1865. 

Mr.  Mebane  was  a  statesman.  His  first  term  in  the  State 
Legislature  was  as  a  member  of  the  House  of  Representa- 
tives from  Orange  county  in  the  year  1842.  For  several 
years  he  continued  to  represent  that  county  in  the  General 
Assembly  until  1850.  Mr.  Mebane  said  with  pride  in  April 
1899,  "I  was  a  Whig.  I  was  for  internal  improvements; 
and  I  worked  hard  in  the  Legislature  for  the  Noith  Caro 
lina  Railroad.  I  knew  what  it  meant  for  the  country." 
Then  there  were  five  members  from  Orange ;  Mr.  Mebane 
was  the  only  one  voting  for  the  appropriation.  He  said, 
"  Col  Stockard  worked  for  the  division  of  the  county,  Ala- 
mance, from  Orange;  but  I  worked  for  the  railroad."  "I 
took  a  contract  and  built  six  miles  of  it  through  Orange," 
that  part  running  by  Mebane,  North  Carolina.  He  was 
director  of  this  road  for  eighteen  years. 

In  1858  he  was  a  member  of  the  House,  and  in  1861  he 
was  in  the  Secession  Convention.  He  was  speaker  of  the 
Senate  from  1861  to  1865.  He  was  then  Representative 
from  Alamance  and  Randolph  counties.  He  was  a  mem- 
ber of  the  "Andrew  Johnson  Convention"  in  1865.  He 
served  many  years  as  Chairman  of  the  County  Courts,  suc- 
ceeding Judge  Ruffin.  In  1879  he  served  on  the  Commit- 
tee of  State  DeSt,  and  several  other  important  committees. 
He  took  a  very  decided  part  devising  and  maturing  plans 
to  compromise  and  settle  the  State  debt.     His  plans  were 

♦Sister  to  Mrs.  Virginia  Swepson. 


THE    HISTORY    OF    ALAMANCE.  121 

wise  and  received  support.  He  was  the  oldest  member 
of  the  General  Assembly  in  1879,  and  had  twenty  years 
n  ore  of  life. 

His  familiar  friends  were  such  men  as  Judge  Murphy, 
Judge  Ruffin,  Governor  Graham,  etc.  He  said  of  Badger, 
"  He  was  the  greatest  man  I  ever  saw."  He  said,  "  Badger 
considered  the  battle  of  Alamance  to  be  the  6rst  of  the 
Revolution  ;  that  Badger  was  at  a  celebration  at  the  Ala- 
mance Battle  Ground  and  spoke  to  the  people  in  a  sort  of 
patriotic  campineeting.  (Mr.  William  Harden  says  he 
remembers  the  time  Badger  was  there)," 

Mr.  Mebane  died  in  the  spring  of  1899,  having  lived 
through  the  nineteenth  century.  His  life  had  been  one  of 
service.  He  retained  his  cherry  disposition  and  mental 
vitality.  He  lived  when  men  were  great  and  nobility  was 
not  starved  out  of  humanity.  What  a  galaxy  of  great  ones 
then!  Alamance  had  her  share,  Murphy,  Ruffin,  Edwin 
M.  Holt,  Jonathan  Worth,  Gen.  Trollinger,  Col.  Stockard, 
Hon.  Wm.  Albright,  etc.  How  sweet  to  be  like  Mr.  Giles 
Mebane,  honored  and  happy  and  wise  when  old;  for  he  was 

"  A  man  with  heart,  head,  hand, 
Like  those  of  the  simple  great  ones  gone 
Forever  and  ever  by, 
One  still  strong  man  in  a  blatant  land, 
Whatever  they  call  him,  what  care  I, 
Aristocrat,  democrat,  autocrat— one 
Who  can  rule  and  dare  not  lie." 

Dr.  Benjamin  T.  Mebane  was  born  in  Orange  county, 
May  28th,  1823.  He  was  prepared  for  college  at  Caldwell 
Institute,  Graham,  North  Carolina,  and  graduated  at  the 
University  of  North  Carolina  in  1847,  together  with  Rev. 
Mr.  T.  E.  Skinner,  Gen.  M.  W.  Ransom,  Gen.  J.  J.  Petti- 
grew  and  a  number  of  other  prominent  gentlemen.  He 
married  September  8th,  1857,  Miss  Fannie  Kerr,  daughter 
of  Maj.  James  Kerr  of  Caswell  county.  In  March  1850,  he 
graduated  in  medicine  at  the  University  of  Pennsylvania. 
He  was  a  very  successful  physician.  In  1879  Dr.  Mebane 
was  a  member  of  the  House  of  Representatives. 


CHAPTER   VI. 


HOLT    FAMILY 


A  man's  work  is  his  best  judge.  By  their  fruits  ye  shall 
know  them.  Not  what  he  would  do,  but  what  he  does,  is 
what  actually  exalts  him.  The  strenuous  efforts  of  one 
brave  man  made  Alamance  county  rank  first,  in  the  whole 
South,  perhaps,  in  cotton  manufacturing.  The  sagacity 
and  energy  of  Mr.  E.  M.  Holt  had  a  crystalizing  influence 
on  the  natural  resources  of  Alamance,  bringing  civilization 
out  of  chaos.  His  sons  were  at  work  while  others  were 
galloping  up  and  down  the  road  with  a  shotgun  on  their 
shoulders.  His  life  is  a  simple  story  of  industry,  thrift  and 
forethought,  of  brawn  and  brain  combined.  Good  for  him 
who  concentrates  the  forces  around  him  and  does  it  long 
enough.  It  is  not  that  he  erecied  piles  of  brick  and  mor- 
tar, a  monument  to  his  name,  but  that  in  imagination  and 
close  calculation  he  began  cotton  manufacturing  in  Ala- 
mance and  in  North  Caro"ina  and  set  that  trembling  nurse- 
ling firmly  on  its  feet.  If  cotton  manufacturing  had  been 
begun  in  the  twenties  instead  of  the  forties  there  would 
have  been  no  civil  war. 

Enumerate  some  of  the  effects  of  Edwin  M.  Holt's  ideal. 
That  those  effects  consist  of  material  things  is  granted. 
But  who  has  contributed  anything  immaterial,  since  life 
itself  is  hardly  reality?  It  is  worth  much  to  a  community 
to  nourish  the  crafts  of  masonry  and  carpentry. 

The  Holts  have  given  employment  of  some  sort,  directly 
or  indirectly,  to  at  least  one-fourth  of  the  people  in  Ala- 
mance. They  have  helped  the  people  to  live  comfortably 
housed,  clothed  and  fed.  They  pay  most  of  the  taxes  ;  they 
work  for  their  honors.  They  built  the  towns  of  Burlington 
and  Haw  River  ;  without  them  would  either  exist  as  towns? 
I  hardly  think  it.      Both  towns   have   sprung   up   with  a 


THOS.  M.   HOLT. 


THE    HISTORY    OF    ALAMANCE.  1 23 

magic  growth  like  trees  by  the  river.  The  Granite  Manu- 
factory consumes  fifty  dollar's  worth  of  coal  per  day  besides 
its  water  power.  Gov.  Thomas  M.  Holt  was  a  like  Agri- 
cola  of  whom  Tacitus  said  he  strengthened  and  adorned  all 
he  touched.  Holt's  plaids  are  the  pride  of  the  market. 
They  have  found  their  way  all  around  the  world.  When 
the  Philippine  ladies  begin  to  dress  as  they  ought  and  the 
Chinese  learn  to  reach  forward  and  not  backward,  there 
will  be  a  greater  demand.  It  is  easy  to  see  what  China  and 
the  Philippines  mean  to  employer  and  employees  of  the 
cotton-raising  and  manufacturing  world. 

What  the  Flemish  have  been  to  England,  what  the  Ven- 
etians have  been  to  Southern  Europe,  that  are  the  Holts 
to  Alamance  and  to  North  Carolina.  The  loom  has  done 
more  for  our  civilization  than  the  negro  ever  could  do.  It 
is  high  art  to  make  raw  cotton  into  an  adornment  and  com- 
fort for  humanity. 

Michael  Holt  was  the  patriarch  of  the  Holts  in  Alamance. 
He  belonged  to  the  Lutheran  Church  at  St.  Paul's,  near 
Alamance  Creek.  It  was  about  1750  (?)  that  he  came  from 
the  old  country,  through  Pennsylvania,  to  Alamance.  Holt 
is  from  the  same  root  as  Holstein,  and  Holland.  Mr.  Holt 
was  a  wealthy  planter,  his  land  extending  from  Greensboro 
almost  to  Hillsboro,  with  his  homestead  about  in  the  cen- 
tre, on  the  Great  Alamance.  On  his  plantation  was  fought 
the  Battle  of  Alamance. 

His  friend  Mr.  Roan  of  Hillsboro  once  asked  Mr.  Holt 
how  much  he  would  take  for  his  laud.  "Gold  dollars, 
gold  dollars,  by  ging,"  was  the  characteristic  reply,  "gold 
dollars  enough  to  cover  it  and  them  laid  down  edgewise !  " 
But  Michael  Holt's  love  of  land  and  money  was  not  ex- 
ceeded by  his  generosity.  He  was  an  agreeable  and  popu- 
lar man,  loved  talking  and  fond  of  a  joke.  Mr.  Henderson 
of  Rowan  was  a  great  friend  of  his.  Once  his  eighteen- 
miles-away  neighbors  decided  to  pay  him  a  joke.  They 
called  and  said  his  friend  Henderson  was  being  persecuted 


124  THE    HISTORY    OF    ALAMANCE 

and  was  suffering  want.  Mr.  Holt  replied  that  no  friend 
of  his  should  suffer  while  he  could  help  him  out.  So  he 
filled  his  great  old  saddle  pockets  with  money  and  set  out 
for  Rowan  on  horseback.  After  riding  a  mile  or  more  he 
noticed  a  hole  in  his  saddle-bags,  and  gold  dollars  dropped 
all  along,  as  the  horse  had  trotted  pretty  fast,  a  golden 
stream  behind  him. 

Michael  Holt\s  home  was  a  hotel  on  the  Hillsboro  and 
Salisbury  road.  They  say  he  was  a  "  good  feeder."  He 
was  a  large  slave-holder  and  agriculturist.  Michael  Holt, 
says  Lossing's  History,  was  a  fine  old  Deutchman  and  a 
gentleman  commanding  great  respect.  He  was  buried  on 
the  Dr.  Pleas.  Holt  place  (his  own  land),  near  Burlington 
cemetery. 

Michael  Holt  was  twice  married — first,  to  Miss  O'Neill. 
They  had  two  sons  and  a  daughter,  Nellie,  who  married 
Mr.  Shoffner.  His  second  wife  was  Miss  Jane  Lockhart. 
Their  children — 

i.  Isaac  married  Letta  Scoot.  (Her  father  and  mother 
are  buried  on  the  Ruffin  farm,  in  Alamance.  On  their 
tomb  is  this  inscription  : 

"  Here  lie  John  Scott  and  his  wife  Letta 
On  the  land  they  got  from  Latta.") 

Mr.  Seymour  Holt  of  Graham  is  their  descendant. 

2.  Joshua  married  and  moved  to  Tennessee. 

3.  Michael  married  Miss  Rachael  Raney. 

4.  William  married  Sallie  Steele. 

5.  Polly  mar.ied  Mr.  Thompson,  lived  west  of  Bellmont. 

6.  Nancy  married  Mr.  Finley,  lived  west  of  Bellmont. 
7  Peggy  married  Mr.  Turrentine. 

William  and  Sallie  Steele  Holt's  family — 
«.   Samuel. 

b.  Joseph  married  Laura  Boone;  lived  between  Graham 

and  Alamance  factory. 

c.  Michael  married  Ann  Webb  of  Hillsboro.     They  lived 

where  Mr.  Thos.  Foust  does,  one  mile  from  Graham. 


THE    HISTORY    OF     ALAMANCE.  1 25 

d.  John  married  Catharine  Trollinger;  lived  in  Randolph 

county,  on  Deep  River. 

e.  Milton  married    Martha   Mebane  and  settled  in   Ar- 

kansas. 

f.  Joshua. 

g.  Mary  married  Isaac  Foust  and  settled  near  Ramseur> 

N.  C. 
h.   Pleasant  married  Meta  Long;  he  died  in  Jacksonville, 

Fla. 
i.  Sarah  married  Peter  Harden  of  Graham.     Their  chil- 
dren— 

1.  Ann  Holt  Harden,  married  twice — first,  Mr.  Ely  of 
Virginia;  their  son  is  Peter  Harden  Ely.  Second  time  she 
married  Mr.  Crawford. 

2.  Sal  lie  married  Mr.  King  of  Florida. 

3.  Mary  married  Mr.  Jim  Turner,  Graham. 

4.  Cora  married  Mr.  John  Kernodle  of  Graham. 

5.  Lura  married  Mr.  John  Montgomery  of  Graham. 

6.  Junius  Harden  married  Lula  Graham. 

7.  Peter  Harden,  Graham,  N.  C. 

Michael  Holt  II  lived  at  the  old  homestead.  Elections 
and  tax  gatherings  were  held  at  his  home.  He  was  a  man 
of  some  education  and  a  writer  of  note  in  the  Hillsboro 
Record.  He  married  Miss  Rachel  Raney,  sister  of  Mrs. 
Thomas  Sellars.  Their  father,  Rev.  Able  Raney,  was 
buried  in  his  family  graveyard  near  the  Graham  depot  on 
Mr.  June  Harden's  place. 

Their  children — 

1.  Nancy  married  Mr.  Carrigan. 

2.  Jane  married  Mr.  John  Holt. 

3.  Edwin  M.  married  Miss  Emily  Fariss.* 

4.  William  married  Miss  Gray. 
There  were  others  who  died  young. 
Mr.  E.  M.  Holt's  chifdren — 

1.  Governor  Thos.  M.  Holt — Mrs.  Cora  Laird,  Mrs.  Daisy 

*Mrs.  E.  M.  Holt  is  now  92  years  old. 


126  THE    HISTORY   OF    ALAMANCE. 

Haywood,  Airs.  Ella  Wright,  *Charley  Holt,  Thomas 
Hoit. 

2.  Mr.  James   Holt,    Burlington,    N.    C.     His    children — 

Messrs.  Will,  Walter,  Capt.  Sam,  Rob,  Ed,  Jim,  Ear- 
nest ;  seven  sons  and  two  daughters,  Misses  Lou  and 
Daisy. 

3.  Mr.  Alfred  Holt. 

4.  Mr.  William  Holt,  of  Charlotte,  N.  C. 

5.  Mr.  L.  Banks  Holt.     His  daughters  are — Mrs.  Dr.  Me- 

bane,  Greensboro,  Mrs.  M.  Whorton,  Mrs.  H.  W.  Scott, 
Mrs.  J.  K.  Mebane,  Mrs.  Giles  Mebane,  Misses  Louise 
and  Mattie. 

6.  Mrs.  Fannie  Williamson  married  Dr.  Willliamson — Mr. 

Ed.  Williamson,  Mrs.  Emma  Wenifee,  Lawrence,  Fin- 
ley,  W7alter,  Banks. 

7.  Mrs.  Mary  Williamson  married  Capt.  Jim  Williamson — 

Ada,  William,  Jim,  Blanch  Spencer,  of  Virginia. 

8.  Mrs.  Emma  White — Harvey,  Will,  Madaline. 

9.  Mr.  Lawrence  S.  Holt  married  Miss  Erwin. 
The  children  of  Michael  Holt's  daughter  : 

Jane  married  Mr.  John  Holt.     Mr.   Ed.   Holt  and  Mrs. 
Eliza  Ann  Newlin. 

Mr.  Jerry  Holt  was  Michael  Holt's  nephew.     His  wife 
was  a  Foust,  Sallie  Foust.     His  children  were  : 
1.  Jerry  married  Sallie  Foust.     Their  children — 

a.  Barbara  married  George  Albright. 

b.  Cornelia  married  George  Rich. 

c.  Peter  married  Martha  Wood. 

d.  Tempe  married  Curtis. 

e.  Henry  married  Miss  Coble. 

f.  Daniel  married  twice.     (1.)  Miss  Letterlow — Lewis, 

Tom,   Mrs.   .     (2.)  Miss  Thompson — Alex., 

Earnest. 

g.  George  married  Miss  Kirkpatrick. 
h.  Sidney  married  Miss  Raney. 

i.   Sallie  married  Oliver  Newlin. 


♦Charley  Holt  is  a  man  having  humanity  and  love  of  country  at  heart. 


THE    HISTORY   OF    ALAMANCE.  127 

/.   Martha  married,  (i)  Hornaday  ;  (2)  Spoon. 

2.  Capt.  Wm.  Holt  went  to  Missouri. 

3.  John  Holt  married  (1)   Michael  Holts  daughter,  Jane, 

(2)   a   Miss   Hanks  ;  their   children — Wesley,  Martin, 
Williamson,  Dorphin,  Mary  Jane,  Betsey,  Jerry. 

4.  Tempe  married  Dr.  Wm.  Tarpley. 

5.  Lewis,  killed  by  lightning. 

6.  Polly  married  Col.  Daniel  Clapp. 

7.  Betsy  married  twice,  (1)  Mr.  Ray,  (2)  Mr.  Turrentine. 

8.  Sallie  married  Mr.  Whitaker. 


CHAPTER  VII 


FOl'ST    FAMILY. 

There  were  three  Fotist  brothers,  Peter,  Daniel  and 
George,  who  lived  in  South  Alamance  in  the  early  part  of 
the  nineteenth  century.  They  are  of  an  old  family,  among 
the  first  settlers  in  Alamance.  They  belonged  at  Stoner's 
church,  hence  were  German  Reform  stock.  The  name 
Foust  meant  lucky, 
i.   Peter  married  Miss  Snotherly  ;  their  children — 

a.  John   married   Homaday,    whose  children — William, 

John,  Betsy. 

b.  George  married  Miss  McPherson  and  went  to  Ten- 

nessee. 

c.  Daniel  married  Thompson. 

d.  William  died. 

e.  Peter    married    Sal  lie    Snotherly — Elbridge,    Dock, 

Bettie,  Sallie. 

2.  Daniel  married  Snotherly.     No  children. 

3.  George  married  Barbara  Kivett ;  their  children — 

a.  Sallie  Foust  married  Mr.  Jerry  Holt. 

b.  Henry  married  Rebecca  Mebane. 

c.  George   married    Maria   Duffie   Holt,  whose  children 

are:  Issac  married  Mary  Holt  in  1831  ;  children — 
Mrs.  Lena  Harris,  Mrs.  Sallie  Harris,  Chapel  Hill, 
N.  C.  Barbara  Holt  married  James  Rogers,  of 
Brownsville,  Tenn.  They  drove  to  Tennessee  in  a 
carriage  in  1830.  George  married  Ellen  Foust,  his 
first  cousin,  (Peter's  daughter).  Caroline  married 
Calvin  Graves.  Morean  married  Sallie  Golston. 
Mary  married  Jessie  Graves.  Thomas  married 
Mary  Robbins — Prof.  Junius  Foust  of  Goldsboro  ; 
Prof.  Tom  Foust,  of  Newbern  ;  Miss  Letitia  Foust. 


THE    HISTORY   OF    ALAMANCE.  129 

Letitia    married    John    Whitsett,    of    Greensboro. 
Maria. 

d.  William  married  Katie  Clapp. 

e.  Daniel  married  (i)  Clapp,  (2)  Freeland. 

J.   Peter  married  Polly  Rogers ;  settled  south  of  Ruffin 

Place  in  Alamance. 
g.  Katie  married  John  Clapp. 
h.   Barbara  married  Mr.  Joseph   Basin.      Their  son,  Dr. 

Basin,  of  Alamance. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 


CLENDENEN    FAMILY. 

The  Clendenen  family  is  Scotch.  The  name  was  origi- 
nally Glen  Donwin.  Capt.  Clendenen  was  a  Whig  of  the 
Revolution.  Joseph  Clendenen  had  seven  sons  as  follows : 
i.  William  married  Miss  Bradshaw. 

2.  Alex,  married  Miss  Freshwaters  and  went  to  Virginia. 

3.  George  married  Polly  Albright. 

4.  Chas.  married  Miss  Strayhorn. 

5.  Fisher  married  Miss  Cook. 

6.  David. 

7.  Joseph  went  to  Park  county,  Ind. 


CHAPTER  IX. 


LINDLEY   FAMILY. 

Jonathan  Lindley  lived  at  what  became  the  Jonathan 
Newlin  homestead.  He  was  the  owner  of  a  large  tract  of 
land  about  Spring  Meetinghouse.  He  came  from  Penn- 
sylvania, the  son  of  the  first  Lindley  who  came  to  Ala- 
mance. They  were  among  the  first  to  institute  Quakerism 
in  middle  Carolina.  Jonathan  Lindley  was  a  pioneer  in 
many  respects.  He  was  a  merchant.  His  store  was  the 
first,  very  likely  the  very  first  in  South  Alamance.  He 
inaugurated  a  tanyard  which  continued  in  working  order 
until  recent  years.  He  built  the  old  brick  Mansion.  His 
children  were  Jonathan  Lindley,  twin  daughters  who  went 
to  Indiana  about  1810.  They  visited  in  Alamance  1850. 
A  first  cousin  to  these  children  was  Thomas  Lindley  who 
married  Mary  Long  Lindley,  their  son  was  Dr.  Lindley  of 
Indiana,  a  prominent  physician. 


CHAPTER  X. 


WOODY    FAMILY. 

The  patriarch  of  the  Woody  family  came  to  America  in 
the  Mayflower.  His  name  was  John  The  common  people 
of  England  had  no  surname  then,  so  the  passengers  on  the 
Mayflower  honored  him  with  a  name  ;  because  he  was  an 
expert  workman  in  wood — Woody. 

This  gentleman  had  two  sons  ;  what  became  of  one  is 
not  known  but  the  other,  also  called  John  went  to  Mary- 
land where  he  married.  Afterwards  he  moved  to  North 
Carolina. 

John  Woody  was  one  of  the  first  settlers  here.  He  built 
Woody's  ferry,  at  which  place  on  Haw  River  was  the  road 
already  laid  off  and  used,  from  Hillsboro  through  the  Stink- 
ing Quarter  country  to  Guilford  Court  house  country  on  to 
Salisbury  a  notable  road,  and  a  historic  ferry  over  which 
there  passed  Tryon  and  Cornwallis  with  their  armies  and 
many  others. 

John  Woody  raised  a  large  family — seven  sons.  James, 
John,  Robert,  Joshua,  Samuel,  one  settled  on  the  west  side 
of  the  ferry  and  was  killed  by  lightning.  John  Woody 
died  without  a  will.  Under  the  English  Government  all 
his  property  fell  to  his  oldest  son  James,  who  divided  it 
equally  among  his  younger  brothers. 

James  Woody  married  Miss  Laughlin.  Their  children 
were  Hugh,  Samuel,  John  and  eleven  daughters. 

Samuel  first  married  Elenor  Hadley,  their  children  were 
James,  Nathaniel  and  Joseph. 

The  second  wife  was  Mary  Harvey. 

The  third  Mary  Pugh,  kin  to  Herman  Husband's  wife. 

Hugh  married  first  Miss  Hadley.  Their  son  was  Thomas 
who  died  an  old  man  ten  or  more  years  ago. 

His  second  wife  was  an  Atkinson. 


THE    HISTORY   OF    ALAMANCE.  1 33 

The  eleven  daughters  of  James  Woody  were, 
i.  Sarah  who  married  John  Johnson.     They  went  to 
Indiana. 

2.  Mary  married  John  Atkinson,  lived  at  Cane  Creek. 
(Their  children  moved  to  Indiana.) 

3.  Rebecca  married  Picket,  they  settled  in  Indiana. 

4.  One  married  Andrews  and  lived  at  the  Green  Ray 
place. 

5.  Ruth  married  John  Newlin,  they  went   to  Indiana. 

6.  One  married  Henry  Picket.  They  went  to  Indiana 
and  raised  fourteen  sons  and  one  daughter.  From  Indiana 
they  went  to  Iowa. 

7.  Susanna  married  Joseph  Hadley  and  went  to  Indiana. 

8.  One  married  Macon. 

The  others  have  been  forgotten. 

They  were  Quakers,  the  sentiment  against  the  abolition- 
ist, it  is  likely,  drove  them  to  Indiana. 


CHAPTER  XI. 


STAFFORD    FAMILY. 

The  original  family  of  Staffords  came,  of  course,  from 
England,  settled  in  New  York  and  were  Episcopalians. 
They  were  English  noblemen. 

George  Stafford  came  from  Plymouth  to  Alamance 
county,  North  Carolina,  in  1802.  He  had  served  in  the 
Revolution.  The  Staffords  were  abolitionists,  one  of  them 
carried  on  a  correspondence  with  John  Brown,  a  great  hero 
of  the  North.  His  grandson  is  Wm.  Stafford  of  Bur- 
lington, North  Carolina,  whose  son  is  Dr.  Gaston  Stafford. 


CHAPTER   XII. 


COOK    FAMILY. 

The  Cook  family  came  over  in  the  Mayflower.  Francis 
and  John  Cook,  1620.  His  son  John  Cook  was  in  Peters- 
burg Virginia,  1750,  but  moved  to  Alamance,  settling  on 
the  Great  Alamance,  Mr.  Edwin  Holt's  old  place. 

Henry  Cook  settled  near  the  Daniel  Holt  place,  1750. 

His  son  John  (or  Henry)  married  Miss  McRae  of  Fayett- 
ville.  He  was  a  planter.  They  had  five  sons  and  two 
daughters. 

Daniel  married  Miss  Blackwood. 

Archibald  married  Mrs.  Staley 

Henry  married  Mary  Bryan — Henry  Monroe  Cook,  of 
Swepsonville. 

Duncan  married  Emma  Stanford. 

John  died. 

Nancy  married  Judge  Coble  of  Winston-Salem. 

Julia  married  Andy  Woods. 

The  Cooks  were  Whigs  in  time  of  the  Revolution. 


CHAPTER  XIII, 


THE   PUR  YEAR    FAMILY. 

Seymour  Puryear  was  born  in  Mecklenburg  county,  Ya. 

Richard  Puryear  of  Surry,  N.  C,  was  his  cousin. 

Seymour  Puryear  owned  lots  of  negroes ;  was  a  profes- 
sional overseer  of  negroes.  He  bought  the  widow  Glass' 
land  and  that  of  Hunter  and  WagstarT,  a  thousand  or  more 
acres.  He  belonged  to  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  at 
Mt.  Harmon,  but  the  church  split,  becoming  Methodist 
Protestant.     So  he  founded  the  church  at  Macadonia. 

Mr.  Puryear  was  married  four  times  ;  had  seven  daugh- 
ters and  no  son,  so  his  name  is  lost  in  Alamance.  His  first 
wife  was  Fannie  Vaughn.     Their  children  were — 

Nancy,  married  Shoffner. 

Mary,  mairied  Holt. 

Eliza,  married  Coble. 

Adline,  married  White. 

Fanny,  married  Holt. 

Seymour  Puryear's  second  wife  was  Polly  Albright.  Her 
children  were — 

Peggy,  who  married  Wm.  Newlin. 

Sarah  Ellen,  married  Oliver  Newlin.  '-" 

His  next  wife  was  Polly  Blair-Holt,  Isaac  Holt's  widow. 
At  her  death  he  married  Ann  Royster. 


JOHN    NEWLIN. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 


NEWLIN    HISTORY. 

Newlin,  Newlan,  Newland,  Newlande  are  all  one  name. 
The  family,  though  widely  scattered,  is  the  same.  Their 
history  has  been,  comparatively  speaking,  very  well  pre- 
served. 

i.  Nathaniel  married  Mary  Mendenhall,  who  was  also 
from  England.  From  these — Nathaniel  and  Mary — have 
descended  all  the  Newlins  in  America. 

2.  John  \nas  not  married. 

3.  Elizabeth  married  Mr.  Burton. 

4.  Rachael  married  Mr.  Jackson. 

Nathaniel's  wife,  Mary  Mendenhall  Newlin,  reaped  a 
sheaf  of  wheat  the  day  she  was  one  hundred  years  old.  She 
died  about  one  hundred  and  two. 

Their  children  were  John  and  Nathaniel  II.  John  moved 
to  North  Carolina  and  married  Miss  Pyles. 

Their  first  son  was  Nathaniel,  his  son  was  Duncan  and 
his  son,  Milton  Newlin  of  Indiana. 

Their  second  son  was  James,  who  married  Deborah  Lind- 
ley,  and  one  daughter,  Mary. 

James  and  Deborah  Lindley  Newlin's  children  were : 
Nathaniel,  married  Andrew ;  Tommy,  married  a  Love ; 
John  and  William  went  to  Indiana. 

Jonathan  was  the  second  son  of  James  He  married  Re- 
becca Long.  Their  children  were  James,  Oliver,  William, 
Jonathan,  Thomas. 

Mr.  Oliver  Newlin  lives  near  Swepsonville,  N.  C.  It 
seems  to  be  a  characteristic  of  his  family  to  retain  their 
vitality  to  an  advanced  age.  He  is  a  man  of  ability,  care- 
fulness and  patriotism.  He  went  with  his  father  long  be- 
fore the  war  of  '61  to  carry  a  car  full  of  negroes  to  a  free 
State — Ohio.      He  says  that  in  his  opinion  it  was  a  curse 


I38  THfc.    HISTORY    OF    ALAMANCE. 

on  civilization  to  turn  those  negroes  free  upon  any  govern- 
ment. He  said  that  lot  could  never  have  been  made  into 
citizens.     He  was  glad  when  he  git  them  off  his  hands. 

In  1 1 50  Randolph  de  la  Newlande  was  Lord  of  the  Ma- 
nor of  Newlande  Hall,  Essex.  His  discendant  was  Nich- 
olas Newlin,  of  Canterbury,  England,  1580.  Nicholas 
Newlin,  Jr.,  born,  1630;  emigrated  from  Cork,  Ireland,  to 
Chester  county,  Pennsylvania,  1683.  His  children  were  : 
John,  Elizabeth  married  Mr.  Burton,  Rachael  married  Mr. 
Jackson,  Nathaniel  married  Mary  Mendenhall,  whose  child- 
ren were  John  and  Nathaniel.  John's  son  John  moved  to 
Orange  county,  N.  C;  married  Miss  Pyles.  They  had 
three  children — Nathaniel,  James  and  Mary.  Nathaniel's 
son,  Duncan  and  grandson  Milton,  live  in  Indiana  James 
married  Deborah  Lindley,  whose  children  were  five.  Na- 
thaniel married  Andrews,  Thomas  married  Love  (his 
grandson,  Thos.  E.,  is  president  of  Oregon  College)  John 
and  William  went  to  Indiana,  Jonathan  Newlin  (see  pic- 
ture) married  Rebecca  Long.  Their  children,  James  mar- 
ried Eliza  Ann  Holt.  Oliver  married  (1)  Miss  Puryear,  (2) 
Sallie  Holt,  William  married  Miss  Puryear,  Jonathan  mar- 
ried Miss  Farlow,  (Richmond,  Ind  ) 

These  are  quakers  of  ye  oMen  time  found  in  the  Cane 
Creek  Monthly  Meeting  Birth-book  : 

John  Long,  son  of  James  and  Ann  Long,  was  born  in 
the  State  of  New  York,  20th  March,  1761. 

Mary,  his  wife,  daughter  of  John  and  Ann  Clark,  was 
born  in  Chester  county,  Penn  ,  30th  December,  1753. 

Nancy,  their  daughter,  was  born  in  London  county,  Va., 
27th  March,  1788. 

John,  their  son,  was  born  in  London  county,  Va.,  26th 
February,  1785. 

Rebecca,  their  daughter,  was  born  in  Orange  county,  N. 
C,  31st  March,  1787. 

James,  their  son,  was  born  in  Orange  county,  N.  C,  5th 
April,  1789. 


THE   HISTORY   OF    ALAMANCE"  1 39 

Sarah,  their  daughter,  was  born  in  Orange  county,  N.  C, 
25th  April,  1790. 

Polly,  their  daughter,  was  born  in  Orange  county,  N.  C, 
1 2th  September,  1792. 

Rachael,  their  daughter,  was  born  in  Orange  county,  N. 
C,  24th  February,  1795. 

Mary  M.  Long,  his  second  wife,  and  daughter  of  William 
and  Enice  Wilson,  13th  January,  1777. 

Alphonso,  their  son,  24th  November,  181 8. 

John  Pike  was  born  in  Pasquotank  county,  N.  C,  1702, 
September,  19th.  In  1735  he  was  in  Frederick  county,  Va., 
in  1749  he  was  at  Cane  Creek,  Orange  county,  N.  C. 

Robert  Morrison,  son  of  James  and  Mary  Morrison, 
was  born  in  Chester  county,  Penn.,  1st  July  1742. 

a.  Hannah,  his  wife,  was  born  in  Orange  county,  N.  C, 

23d  January,  1757. 

b.  Jane,  their  daughter,  was  born  in  Orange  county,  N. 

C,  26th  August,  1773. 

c.  James,  their  son,  was  born  in  Orange  county,  N.  C, 

1 6th  July,  1776. 

d.  Katharine,  their  daughter  was  born  in  Orange  county, 

N.  C,  26th  December,  1777. 

e.  William,  their  son,  was  born  in  Orange  county,  N. 

C,  15th  September,  1779. 
/.  Mary,  their  daughter,  was  born  in  Orange  county,  N. 

C,  24th  August,  1782. 
g.  Ruth,  their  daughter,  was  born  in  Orange  county,  N. 

C,  30th  October,  1784. 
h.  Robert,  their  son,  was  born  in  Orange    county,  N. 

C,  19th  October,  1786. 
He  moved  to  Indiana  and  the  city  of  Richmond  was 
built  on  his  farm.  He  was  a  philanthropist.  Deborah, 
their  daughter,  was  born  3d  April,  1791.  She  married 
Wm.  Johnson.  The  name  of  Morrison  and  Johnson — that 
set  of  Johnsons — have  died  out  in  North  Carolina.  Their 
only  representatives  here  are  the  descendants  of  Samuel  and 


140  THE    HISTORY   OF    ALAMANCE. 

Gibbs  Stockard,  who  married  daughters  of  William  and 
Debora  Johnson. 

i.  Simon,  her  brother,  son  of  Robert  and  Mary,  born 
13th  February,  1793. 

John  Morrow,  son  of  William  and  Rachael  Morrow, 
was  born  in  Orange  county,  N.  C  ,  17th  June,  1769. 

Mary,  his  wife,  daughter  of  James  and  Hannah  Stout, 
was  born  in  Orange  county,  N.  C,  24th  October,  1777. 

a.  Andrew,  their  son,  was   born  in    Orange  county,  N. 

C,  28th  May,  1798. 

b.  Joseph,  their  son,  was  born  in    Orange    county,  X. 

C,  13th  October,  1799. 

c.  Hannah,  their  daughter,  was  born  in  Orange  county, 

N.  C,  6th  February,  1801. 

d.  Mary,  their  daughter,  was  born  in  Orange  county,  N. 

C,  27th  February,  1803. 

e.  Ruth,  their  daughter,  was  born  in  Orange  county,  N. 

C,  19th  June,  1806. 

Mary  Hill,  daughter  of  Joseph  and  Ann  Hill,  was  born 
27th  October,  1792. 

Rachael  Hill  was  born  16th  September,  1795. 

Wm.  Hill  was  born  9th  November,  1797. 

Ann  Hill  was  born  13th  November,  1799. 

John  Hill  was  born  20th  March,  1802. 

Clark  Hill  was  born  4th  February,  1804. 

Samuel  Hill  was  born  2 2d  February,  1806. 

Daniel  Hill  was  born  28th  July,  1809. 

Thomas  Stubbs  and  Deborah  Mattock  were  married  at 
Cane  Creek  monthly  meeting  3d  November,  1757.  Their 
representatives,  I  think,  are  in  Richmond,  Ind.,  Miss  Mary 
Anna  Stubbs. 


CHAPTER  XV 


SCOTT    FAMILY. 

James  Scott  married  a  Mebane.  They  had  one  son, 
Samuel  Scott.  He  had  one  son,  John  Scott,  who  married 
Margaret  Anderson.     Their  children  were — 

i.  Patsy,  married  John  Dixon. 

2.  Mebane  Scott,  died. 

3.  Henderson  Scott,  married  Mrs.  Glass,  nee  Miss  Mar- 
garet Kerr. 

4.  Calvin  Scott,  of  Charlotte,  N.  C. 

5.  Jane,  married  Alex  Allen — 

1.  Fanny,  married  Cedar  Jim  Thompson — 

1.  Mr.  Alex.  Thompson,  Mt.  Airy. 

2.  Mrs.  Lucian  Murray. 

3.  Mrs.  Pauline  Holt. 

4.  Ed.  Thompson. 

2.  Mary  Jane. 

3.  John  M. 

4.  Alex. 

6.  Hannah,  married  Archibald  Murphy,  nephew  of  Judge 
Murphy  and  his  adopted  son — 

1.  Sam'l,  president  of  bank  in  San  Francisco,  Cal. 

2.  Mrs.  Jennie  Denrick. 

3.  Stanford. 

7.  Fannie,  died  single. 

8.  J.  L.  Scott,  of  Graham. 

9.  James  Sidney,  married  Bettie  Donnall. 

10.  Nancy  Jane,  married  John  Gibbs  Albright. 

11.  Cornelia,  married  James  Hunter. 

12.  Jennette,  married  Robert  Hunter. 

Jane  Scott  married  Alex  Allen,  brother  of  David  Kerr. 
They  were  old   Revolutionary  stock,  and  lived  one  and  a 


142  THE    HISTORY   OF    ALAMANCE. 

half  miles  of  Haw  Fields  church.  Their  home  was  a  lovely 
place.  They  had  plenty  of  land,  plenty  of  servants,  plenty 
to  live  upon.  Best  of  all,  a  fine  woman  was  mistress.  Their 
two  sons  moved  to  Arkansas.  John  M.  Allen  went  to  Hope, 
Hempstead  county,  Ark.  Alex  went  to  Texarkana,  but 
lives  now  at  Dillsboro,  N.  C. 


W.  H.  TROLINGER,  Haw  River,  N.  C. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 


TROLINGER    FAMILY. 

One  of  the  first  settlers  in  Alamance  county,  N.  C,  in 
the  year  1745,  was  Adam  Trolinger,  who  was  born  near  the 
Rhine,  in  Germany,  in  168 1.  From  there  he  moved  to 
Pennsylvania,  in  1737,  came  on  South  and  settled  here,  on 
the  western  bank  of  Haw  River,  above  where  the  railroad 
now  crosses  the  river.  He  entered  quite  a  large  body  of 
land  here,  selecting  this  place  on  accoui-t  of  the  water  falls, 
in  order  to  catch  fish,  there  being  large  quantities  of  them 
in  the  river  at  this  time.  He  selected  and  allotted  an  acre 
of  land  for  a  burying  place  for  his  family,  in  which  he  was 
buried  in  1776  at  95  years  of  age.  His  eldest  ton,  Jacob 
Henry,  was  also  born  in  Germany,  in  17 18,  and  came  to 
this  place  with  his  father  in  1745.  He  built  the  first  grist 
mill  on  Haw  River,  near  where  the  Granite  factory  now 
stands.     He  had  two  sons,  John  and  Henry. 

During  the  Revolutionary  war  Cornwallis  passed  here 
on  his  way  to  the  Guilford  Battle  Ground  and  camped  over 
night,  and  by  taking  and  destroying  the  grain  in  Jacob 
Henry's  mill,  made  the  old  gentleman  very  angry,  and  he 
told  Cornwallis  what  he  thought  of  him,  whereupon  Corn- 
wallis had  him  tied  to  a  tree,  with  a  bridle  bit  in  his  mouth, 
so  that  he  could  neither  speak  nor  extricate  himself.  They 
left  him  in  this  condition.  He  was  found  late  in  the  even- 
ing and  untied  by  a  Mrs.  Rippy,  who  chanced  to  come  to 
the  mill. 

This  treatment  enraged  Jacob  Henry  so  much  that  he 
sent  his  oldest  son,  John,  to  a  cave  in  Virginia  (This  cave 
he  had  found  and  explored  when  on  his  way  to  this  State 
from  Pennsylvania,  in  1745.)  to  make  powder  to  be  used  in 
the  Revolutionary  war.     John  entered   and  settled  on  640 


144  THE    HISTORY    OF    ALAMANCE. 

acres  of  land  in  Montgomery  (now  Pulaski)  county,  Va.,. 
including  the  cave.  After  sending  his  eldest  son  to  Vir- 
ginia, Jacob  Henry  sent  his  second  son,  Henry,  and  a  young 
negro  man  named  Thomas  Husk,  whom  he  owned,  to  Gen. 
George  Washington,  with  the  written  message  that  "  he 
hoped  both  together  would  make  one  good  soldier,"  neither 
one  being  of  age.  Both  remained  in  the  army  until  the 
close  of  the  war.  After  his  return  to  his  father's,  Henry 
married  Mary  Thomas,  sifter  to  Joseph  Thomas,  the  great 
evangelist,  who  was  called  the  "  White  Pilgrim"  because 
his  apparel  was  always  white.  This  Joseph  Thomas  trav- 
eled over  this  State,  North  Carolina,  and  Virginia,  preach- 
ing the  gospel.  He  finally  married  in  the  valley  of  Vir- 
ginia and  settled  in  Ohio.  He  died  with  smallpox  in  Xew 
Jersey  in  1835. 

Henry  settled  on  the  home  plantation,  near  his  father. 
He  erected  a  toll-bridge  across  the  river,  just  above  the 
present  railroad  crossing,  this  being  the  main  road  between 
Hillsboro  and  Greensboro.  He  received  a  pension  from 
the  government  from  1837  up  to  his  death,  on  Feb.  29th, 
1844,  aged  83  years. 

Thomas  Husk  lived  with  the  descendants  of  his  master, 
and  at  the  age  of  90  died  and  was  buried  in  the  family 
cemetery  at  Haw  River. 

John,  eldest  son  of  Henry  Trolinger,  was  born  in  1 790, 
and  grew  up  to  manhood  at  his  father's  in  the  old  home. 
He  was  a  great  advocate  of  education  all  his  life.  He  was 
chairman  of  the  county  board  of  education  and  manager  of 
the  free  schools  until  the  County  of  Orange  was  divided, 
and  afterwards  held  the  same  position  in  Alamance  county 
until  the  Civil  war.  He  was  chairman,  also,  a  part  of  the 
time,  of  the  county  court  of  Orange,  and  afterwards  of  Ala- 
mance. He  advised  and  aided  a  number  of  young  men  to 
get  an  education,  and  was  considered  one  of  the  best  histo- 
rians of  his  age.  On  the  first  of  January,  1832,  he  com- 
menced work  on  the  first  cotton  factory  built  in  the  county, 


THE   HISTORY   OF    ALAMANCE.  1 45 

situated  on  Haw  River,  a  short  distance  above  where  Stony 
creek  runs  into  the  river,  and  turned  the  river  into  the 
creek,  a  work  that  was  thought  by  others  could  not  be 
done.  After  he  built  the  factory,  others  joined  him  and 
formed  a  joint  stock  company,  naming  it  "The  High  Falls 
Manufacturing  Co.''  (This  place  is  now  owned  by  Rosen- 
thal &  Co.,  and  called  "  Juanita.")  He  built  about  one 
mile  of  the  N.  C.  R.  R.,  west  side  of  the  river,  including 
the  high  embankment  at  the  river.  He  married  Elizabeth 
Rony  in  1809  ;  to  them  were  born  five  sons  and  five  daugh- 
ters. In  October,  1869,  this  noble  man  passed  away,  and 
was  buried  by  the  side  of  his  people  in  the  family  cemetery. 
General  Benjamin  N.,  eldest  son  of  John  Trolinger,  was 
born  in  1810.  Among  the  first  cotton  factories  built  in  the 
county  was  the  older  part  of  the  present  Granite  Mills  at 
Haw  River,  which  was  built  by  him,  1844.  He  was  always 
interested  in  internal  improvements,  and  aided  by  his  part- 
ner and  brother-in-law,  Dr.  D.  A  Montgomery,  got  up  stock 
for  the  N.  C.  R.  R.,  which  was  commenced  in  1851.  They 
were  large  contractors  in  Alamance,  Orange,  Wake  and 
Johnston  counties,  and  had  brick  made  and  bridges  built 
over  Haw  River,  Black  creek,  and  over  both  crossings  of 
the  Eno  at  Hillsboro.  They  also  ran  a  steam  saw-mill  at 
Asbury  and  Cary,  Wake  county,  for  the  purpose  of  cutting 
ties  for  this  railroad,  and  being  anxious  to  have  the  rail- 
road machine  shops  built  in  Alamance  county  (the  people 
of  Greensboro,  Guilford  county,  were  trying  to  get  the 
shops  located  in  their  county),  he  started  on  a  tour  for  sub- 
scriptions to  this  end,  with  $500  cash  from  his  father  and 
some  more  from  his  brother  William  for  a  beginning.  The 
people  of  the  surrounding  country  and  of  Graham  sub- 
scribed liberally,  after  being  assured  that  no  lots  would  be 
sold  nor  business  houses  built  where  the  shops  were  located, 
a  paper  to  this  effect  being  written  and  signed,  but,  unfor- 
tunately, never  recorded,  and  later  on  was  thought  to  have 
been  destroyed.  He  was  successful  in  his  call  on  the  peo- 
10 


146  THE    HISTORY   OF    ALAMANCE. 

pie  and  bought  640  acres  of  land  near  the  centre  of  the 
road,  which  he  donated  to  the  railroad  company,  the  ma- 
chine shops  were  built  and  named  Company  Shops,  now 
called  Burlington. 

After  completing  the  railroad,  General  Trolinger  built  a 
large  hotel  at  Haw  River,  the  railroad  directors  promising 
him  that  all  trains  should  stop  there  for  meals  for  a  term  of 
thirty  years  ;  but  another  hotel  was  built  at  Company  Shops 
by  the  railroad  company.  This  discontinued  his  hotel  at 
Haw  River  and  caused  him  to  fail  in  1858,  and  everything 
he  had  was  sold.  But  being  a  man  of  great  energy,  he  did 
not  stop,  but  went  to  Clayton,  Johnston  county,  and  com- 
menced making  spirits  <  f  turpentine.  This  enterprise 
proved  profitable,  and  needing  a  larger  area  to  work  in,  he 
moved  to  Richmond  county,  where  he  and  his  father  bought 
5,000  acres  of  pine  land  for  the  purpose  of  making  turpen- 
tine there.  Being  near  the  railroad  running  between  Wil- 
mington and  Charlotte,  he  became  a  contractor  on  this  rail- 
road to  aid  in  building  it.  He  located  on  this  railroad,  100 
miles  west  of  Wilmington,  and  named  the  place  Old  Hun- 
dred. He  was  successful  in  his  work  here,  but  when  the 
Civil  war  began,  in  1861,  foreseeing  the  country  would 
need  salt,  he  went  below  Wilmington  and  started  two  sep- 
arate salt  works,  in  which  he  made  at  least  thirty  bushels 
a  day.  He  made  known  to  all  his  creditors  his  intention 
to  pay  off  all  his  debts ;  he  was  paying  off  rapidly,  and  if 
he  had  lived  a  few  years  longer  he  would  have  paid  every- 
thing, and  been  at  a  good  starting  point  again.  In  186  r 
the  following  paper  was  sent  to  him,  signed  by  James  D. 
Radcliffe,  F.  L.  Childs  and  other  officers  of  Fort  Caswell  : 

"This  is  to  certify  that  Gen.  Benj.  N.  Trollinger  ren- 
dered very  great  service  to  the  Garrison  at  Fort  Caswell  as 
well  as  to  the  State  at  large,  by  his  unremitting  labours  in 
collecting,  at  his  own  expense,  negroes  to  aid  in  completing 
the  work  at  this  post.  The  purely  disinterested  patriotism 
of  Gen.  Trollinger  should,  in  the  opinion  of  the  officers  of 


THE    HISTORY    OF    ALAMANCE.  147 

the  post,  secure  for  him  the  gratitude  and  respect  of  every 
true  North  Carolinian."  This  paper  was  acknowledged 
before  a  Notary  Public. 

In  the  summer  of  1862,  while  at  his  salt  works  near  Wil- 
mington, he  was  taken  sick  with  yellow  fever,  but,  not 
knowing  he  had  this  disease  he  went  from  there  to  visit 
his  parents  at  Haw  River,  on  arriving  he  was  quite  sick, 
and  died  on  September  20th,  1862,  and  was  buried  with 
his  kindred  in  the  family  cemetery.  Thus  ended  a  noble, 
valuable  life. 

This  paper  was  dictated  by  William  Holt  Trollinger, 
youngest  son  of  John  Trollinger,  and  brother  of  Gen.  B.  N. 
Trollinger.  Written  by  W.  H.  Trollinger' s  daughter — 
Bessie  Trollinger  Stratford. 

Besides  the  Trollingers,  in  naming  the  first  settlers  of 
Alamance  county,  I  will  mention,  the  Longs,  Gants,  Basons, 
Freelands,  Dixons,  Ronys,  Kerrs,  Whites,  Bakers,  Ander- 
sons, Thomas,  Blanchards,  Mebanes,  Cooks,  Hoffmans, 
Griffiths,  Sellars,  Crawfords,  Tates,  Kings  and  Rippys,  this 
family  were  the  first  to  introduce  cattle  into  the  county, 
they  made  a  web  of  tow  cloth,  and  carried  it,  on  foot,  to 
the  southern  part  of  the  State,  and  exchanged  it  with  the 
Scotch  people  there  for  a  pair  of  cattle,  and  drove  them 
home  with  them. 

The  Walkers  were  a  numerous  family,  the  older  ones 
came  here  from  England,  and  settled  in  the  northern  part 
of  Alamance  county.  They  were  among  the  first  to  raise 
tobacco.  There  being  no  market  here,  they  rolled  their 
tobacco  to  Petersburg  in  hogsheads,  it  being  the  nearest 
market. 


CHAPTER  XVII, 


THE    WHITE    FAMILY. 

The  ancestors  of  the  Whites  who  live  in  Orange  and 
Chatham  counties,  came  from  Scotland  to  Ulster,  Ireland. 
It  is  said  of  the  Scotch-Irish  that  in  whatever  community, 
in  what  ever  low  estate  they  are  like  cork,  and  always  bob 
up  on  top.  This  is  characteristic  of  the  Whites  through- 
out their  generat'on. 

David  White,  a  son  of  that  family  and  a  Covenanter,  on 
account  of  religious  persecution,  left  Ulster,  came  to  Amer- 
ica, and  settled  in  New  Sweden  in  the  valley  of  the  Dele- 
ware  river.  A  historian  of  New  Sweden  said  that  David 
White  married  Miss  Girkie  Cornelius,  September  17, 
1724,  in  Holy  Trinity,  an  old  Swede  church. 

Their  first  children  (iwins),  Moses  and  Stephanus  were 
born  1725.     The  next  son  Carolus  was  born  1727. 

I.  Charles  (Carolus)  married  Margaretta  Van  Culin. 
About  1760  they  moved  to  Chatham  county,  then  a  part  of 
Orange  county,  North  Carolina  ;  settled  on  Tick  Creek 
near  Mt.  Vernon  Springs  ;  lived  there  till  the  day  of  his 
death  ;  and  was  buried  one  mile  distant  in  Napten  Cem- 
etery. 

His  sons  were :  Charles,  Jesse,  Joseph,  John,  David, 
Stephen  ;  his  daughters  :  Susan,  Ann  and  Charity. 

Stephen  and  David  were  soldiers  in  the  Revolutionary 
War.  David  was  killed  by  Tories  in  a  fight  on  Bushy 
Creek  in  Chatham.  Stephen,  after  the  war,  manufactured 
gunpowder  near  Ore  Hill.  During  the  war  of  18 12  he  sup- 
plied the  sui  rounding  counties  and  upper  part  of  South 
Carolina  with  a  superior  quality  of  gunpowder,  strong 
without  graphite. 

Stephen  White  married  Mary  Rushton,  daughter  of  Wil- 


THE    HISTORY    OF    ALAMANCE.  149 

liam  and  Cacy  Rushton  of  Philadelphia.  Their  sons  were 
Hiram  White  and  John  Calvin  White.  John  Calvin's 
family  live  near  Ore  Hill. 

Hiram  White  with  his  family  Nathaniel,  Stephen  Van 
and  Jenny  moved  to  Illinois  September,  1831.  His  son 
Nathaniel,  died  of  consumption  in  Florida.  Stephen  Van 
White  became  a  prominent  lawyer,  served  in  Congress  from 
Illinois.  In  1869  he  moved  to  New  York  City,  and  is  a 
prominent  stockdealer  on  Wall  street. 

The  remainder  of  Charles  White's  children  and  his  son 
Stephen,  went  west  ;  some  to  Tennessee,  but  most  to  Illi- 
nois. Their  descendants,  especially  Joseph's,  can  be  counted 
by  the  hundreds  in  the  north  west.  Hon.  S.  Van  White 
of  New  York,  says  he  is  almost  certain  that  Senator  White 
of  California,  from  his  striking  resemblance,  is  of  this 
branch  of  Whites. 

II,  Stephanus,  or  Stephen  White  married  Ann  Ross,  an 
Irish  woman  from  Ulster,  Ireland.  From  Pennsylvania 
they  moved  to  Chatham  county,  North  Carolina,  being  in- 
duced by  the  description  of  the  country  by  his  brother 
Charles  White  who  preceded  them  one  year.  Now  Charles 
was  a  Nimrod  and  the  country  suited  him  but  Stephen  was 
a  man  of  society,  by  trade  a  shoemaker  He  had  lived  near 
Philadelphia  and  made  for  the  colonial  dames  fine  shoes 
with  heels  four  inches  high  and  straight  as  a  finger. 

Not  finding  much  call  for  such  shoes  in  Chatham  Wilder- 
ness, also  being  a  strict  Presbyterian  and  finding  no  church 
organization  at  that  date  on  Tick  Creek,  he  set  out  on  his 
return  to  Philadelphia.  On  reaching  the  Haw  Fields  set- 
tlemert  he  met  Joseph  Freeland,  the  ancestor  of  the  Free- 
lands  of  Orange.  Mr.  Freeland  persuaded  him  to  remain 
in  the  Haw  Fields.  For  the  price  of  his  wagon  he  bought 
in  1 761,  a  fine  tract  of  land  now  owned  by  the  heirs  of 
David  Kerr,  and  settled  near  Back  Creek  two  and  a  half 
miles  east  of  Graham.  Being  out  of  funds  he  wished  to 
buy  a  bushel  of  meal  from  a  neighbor  but  was  refused  credit. 


I50  THE    HISTORY    OF     ALAMANCE. 

However,  as  a  shoemaker,  he  soon  prospered  and  lived  in 
abundance. 

It  is  likely  that  his  eldest  children,  Ann,  Susan,  Charity 
and  David  were  born  in  Philadelphia.  Those  born  in 
North  Carolina  weie  John,  Robert,  James,  Samuel,  Stephen 
and  Robert  No.  2. 

1.  Ann  married  James  Baldridge.  They  settled  east  of 
Hillsbco.  He  was  a  man  of  wealth,  owning  a  mill  which 
was  seized  by  Cornwallis.  He  owned  town  lots  in  Hills- 
boro,  many  negroes,  large  tracts  of  land  in  Orange  county, 
North  Carolina,  and  also  in  Kentucky  and  Tennessee. 
Lindsay  Woods,  an  elder  of  Little  River  church,  married 
one  of  Baldrige's  daughters.     Their  son  is  Dock  Woods. 

2.  Susan  White  married  Samuel  Mebane,  a  first  cousin 
of  Alex.  Mebane,  Sr.  They  settled  on  Back  Creek,  near 
railroad  bridge,  later  went  west.     They  had  one  son. 

3.  Charity  White  married  Rev.  Wm.  Hodge,  who  after 
preaching  at  Haw  Fields  and  Cross  Roads  from  1782,  to 
1800,  moved  to  Kentucky  and  preached  at  Shiloh  church. 
He  was  a  great  evangelist. 

4.  David  White  jr.,  at  seventeen  years  of  age  was  at  the 
battle  of  Gates  defeat  at  Camden,  South  Carolina,  in  the 
North  Carolina  militia.  He  stated  that  on  advancing  to 
attack  the  British  they  met  them  coming  to  attack  the  Con- 
tinental army.  At  the  first  fire  his  regiment  retreated.  He 
stood  at  the  right  of  the  Irish  regulars  and,  on  his  scond 
fire,  took  aim  at  a  mounted  officer  riding  up  from  the  left. 
He  supposed  he  killed  him.  Being  closely  pressed  he 
turned  and  fired  retreating.  He  married  Elizabeth  Allen, 
daughter  of  John  Allen,  who  lived  two  miles  south  west  of 
Haw  Fields,  not  far  from  Melville.  Their  only  child  was 
Mary  who  married  Samuel  Kerr,  whose  children  were  D. 
W.  Kerr  and  Mrs.  Margaret  Scott,  the  mother  of  Hon.  R. 
W.  Scott. 

5.  John  White  married  Miss  Shaw.  They  had  but  two 
children,  Stephen,  "  Big  Steve,"  and  Anna.     Anna  married 


THE    HISTORY   OF    ALAMANCE.  151 

twice,  first,  George  Stephen.  Their  children  were  John 
and  Elizabeth,  the  daughter  marrying  Mathew  Ray  of  Mt. 
Herman  family  of  Rays.  Anna's  second  husband  was 
Anderson  Horn,  their  children,  Martha  and  Mary.  Mr. 
Horn  with  his  family,  including  his  two  step-children 
moved  to  Ohio,  settling  near  Cheillicothe. 

,(  Big  Steve "  married  Miss  Boon,  went  west  and  was 
lost.  The  father  John  White  died  in  1851,  aged  eighty-two, 
and  is  buried  at  Haw  Fields. 

6.  James  White  married  Amelia  Faucette.  Their  chil- 
dren were,  "  Little  Stephen  "  or  "  Elder  Steve,"  Thomas, 
Robert,  George,  Elizabeth  Jane. 

a.  Stephen  married  Isabella  Johnston  whose  children 
were,  Sarah  Jane  married  Sidney  Thompson  of  Mt.  Her- 
mon  ;  John  married  Fanny  Battle  of  Tarboro,  North  Caro- 
lina. They  live  at  Rocky  Mount,  North  Carolina  ;  James 
died  at  Ashland  Virginia,  April  1862.  He  belonged  to  the 
6th  North  Carolina  Infantry  ;  Amelia  married  Armstrong 
Tate,  Clerk  of  Court  of  Alamance  county,  whose  children 
are  Lula  Margaret,  Mrs  H.  J.  Stockard  and  Henryetta, 
Mis.  McBiide  Holt;  Eliza  lives  at  Rocky  Mount;  Mary 
died  in  early  life.  Stephen  White,  the  father,  died  at 
eighty-five  years  of  age  and  is  buried  at  Haw  Fields. 

b.  Thomas  White  is  married  and  lives  in  South  Carolina  ? 

c.  Robert  F.  married  Mary  Woods,  grand  daughter  of 
Capt.  Jas.  Mebane  of  Revolutionary  fame.  Their  children 
were,  William,  James  Richard,  Elizabeth  who  married  Mr. 
Johnson  and  went  to  Tennessee,  and  Fannie.  Robt.  White 
died  aged  eighty-four  and  his  wife  aged  eighty-one. 

d.  Thomas  White  married  in  1833  Mary  Ellis,  daughter 
of  Rev.  Ira  Ellis.  Their  children ;  James  Ira  married 
Martha  Dixon,  Wm.  Paisley,  Thomas  jr.  William  Paisky 
and  Graham  killed  at  first  battle  of  Manassas,  color  bearer. 

e.  George  W.  White  married  Maria  Holt  in  1850,  daugh- 
ter of  Isaac  Holt.  Their  children  :  Marv  Elizabeth  mar- 
ried Right  Hooker  of  Hillsboro,  George  Paisley  White  who 
went  to  Atlanta. 


152  THE    HISTORY    OF   ALAMANCE 

f.  Elizabeth  Jane  White  married  John  Thompson.  They 
settled  near  Culbreth/s  bridge.  She  lived  but  a  few  years 
and  left  one  daughter,  Martitia,  who  married  John  Leoni- 
das  Scott  Albright  of  Columbus,  Mississippi. 

7.  Samuel  White  married  Nancy  Mebane,  daughter  of 
Capt.  Jas.  Mebane,  in  1808. 

1.  Margaret  died  aged  66. 

2.  Samuel  Mebane  White  married  Adeline  Pureyear  in 
1848.     Their  children  :— 

a.  Fannie  Vaughn  married  Thomas  Andrews  of  Char- 
lotte, N.  C 

b.  Ann  Mebane  married  Robert  Hodge  of  Orange  county, 
N.  C. 

c.  Seymore  Pureyear  went  west. 

d.  Lucy  married  George  Curtis  of  Alamance. 

e.  Flora  McDonald  White. 
f.  Jennie  White. 

3.  Josiah  J.  White  married  Margaret  Andrews,  1845.  They 
settled  at  Ore  Hill,  N.  C.     Their  children— 

a.  Frank,  M.  C. 

b.  David,  Y. 

c.  William 

d.  Emma. 
c.   Addie. 

f.  John. 

g.  Daniel. 

h.  R.  Wesley. 

i.    Marion  Frances. 

/.    Mattie. 

k    Joseph. 

/.    Nannie. 

Frank  married  Miss  Edwards. 

David  married  (1)  Miss  Cheek,  (2)  Miss  Kirkman. 

R.  Wesley  married  Miss  Harvey,  of  Guilford  county. 

Addie  married  Rawdon  Vann,  of  Sampson  county. 

Mattie  married  Mebane  Elmore. 


THE    HISTORY    OF    ALAMANCE.  1 53 

David  married  Carrie  Cheek. 

William,   David   M.,  and  Charles  White  reside  in  Bur- 
ling-ton,  the  other  members  of  the  family  at  Ore  Hill,  N.  C. 

4.  Stephen  A.  White  married  Mary  Jane  Woods  in  1854. 

a.  Charles  was  drowned  at  17  years  of  age. 

b.  Eugene. 

c.  David,  A.,  furniture  factory  at  Mebane,  N.  C. 

d    William,  E.,  furniture  factory  at  Mebane,  N.  C. 
c.   Frank  Lee. 

f.  Stephen  Arthur,  in  U.   S.   Mail   Service,    Cardenas, 

Cuba. 

g.  Samuel,  A.  B.  of  University  of  N.  C,  bookkeeper. 
h.  Nannie  married  Dr.  Chas.  Miller,  Asheville,  N.  C. 
/'.    Carrie. 

/.    Myrtie. 

5.  David  White  served  five  years  in  regular  army  of  United 

States,  was  in  many  battles  under  General  Scott. 

6.  Capt.  B.  F.  White  was  prepared  for  college  by  Dr.  Alex- 

ander Wilson  at  Melville,  N.  C.  He  taught  i856-'6i 
at  Battleboro,  Edgecombe.  He  served  in  the  Sixth 
N.  C.  Regiment  in  Confederate  War,  going  out  as  Sec- 
ond Lieutenant.  On  the  death  of  Capt.  R.  F.  Carter 
he  was  made  Captain  of  Company  F.  of  "  Haw  Field 
Boys."  He  was  wounded  four  times,  twice  severely  ; 
spent  nineteen  months  as  prisoner  of  war  at  Sandusky 
City,  Johnson  Island.  Capt.  White  married  Pattie  O. 
V.  Harvour,  of  Halifax  county,  Va.     Their  children — 

a.  Harvey  Phillips,  soldier  in  the  regular  United  States 

Army,  Battery  O.,  Second  Artillery,  Havana,  Cuba. 

b.  Jessie    H.,    stenographer  for    White    Bros.,    Mebane, 

N.  C. 

c.  Benton  Virginius. 

d.  Pattie  E. 

Capt.  White  lives  near  Mebane,  N.  C. 

7.  Fannie  J.    White  married  Capt.   John   M.  McLaen,  of 

Guilford  county,  N.  C.  She  died  in  1896,  aged  jy 
years. 


154  ™E    HISTORY    OF     ALAMANCE. 

8.  Eliza  White  married  Harrison  Harvour,  1862.  She 
died  in  1882,  aged  66  years. 

Moses  White,  son  of  David  and  Girke  White,  was  at 
Braddack's  defeat,  and  was  under  Arnold  in  Revolutionary 
War  in  his  expedition  into  Canada.  After  the  revolution 
he  went  to  Kentucky.  He  is  remembered  as  a  gay,  hila- 
rous  old  man,  danced  and  played  the  riddle. 

Joseph  White,  his  brother,  was  also  at  Braddack's  defeat 
and  in  the  Canada  expedition.  He  became  a  Philadelphia 
merchant. 

Their  sister  married  Mr.  Herman.  One  morning,  at  first 
of  Indian  and  French  War,  the  wife  arose  to  find  the  cows 
in  the  garden.  When  she  left  the  house  to  put  them  out 
she  was  seized  by  an  Indian.  Her  cries  brought  her  hus- 
band to  the  door,  gun  in  hand.  The  Indian  kept  the  wo- 
man between  himself  and  the  gun.  The  husband  was 
killed,  the  house  plundered,  the  baby's  brains  dashed  out 
against  a  tree,  the  woman  and  her  children  carried  west. 
In  crossing  the  Ohio  River  on  horseback  the  youngest 
child,  3  y2  years  old,  became  frightened  and  was  knocked  off 
the  horse  and  let  drown.  The  woman  and  her  two  remain- 
ing children  were  carried  forward  into  the  State  of  Ohio. 
One  night  while  her  guards  were  asleep  she  escaped.  In 
the  woods  she  found  a  mare  with  a  young  colt.  She  made 
a  bridle  of  a  grape  vine,  and  returned  to  the  settlements  after 
a  two  week's  journey,  living  entirely  on  the  milk  of  the 
mare  and  a  nest  of  bird  eggs  she  found.  After  peace  was 
declared  and  prisoners  returned  it  was  with  difficulty  she 
knew  her  childien. 

Stephen  White  died  in  1818,  aged  83  years;  Ann  White 
died  in  18 19,  aged  85  years. 

Joseph  White,  second  son  of  Stephen  and  Ann,  married 
Hannah  Bryan.     Their  children — 

a.  William  (1801-44.) 

b.  Ann  married  George  Allen ;  they  had  a  large  family. 
Joe  Allen  went  to  California  in   1849,  became  a  success- 


THE   HISTORY   OF     ALAMANCE.  1 55 

ful  miner.  His  family  moved  to  Texas.  On  his  return, 
the  Independence,  the  vessel  on  which  he  was  sailing,  while 
coasting  along  lower  California  struck  a  reef  and  founded. 
He  had  on  his  person  $2,000  in  gold,  by  its  weight  dis- 
abling him  to  swim  far.     He  sank  and  was  lost. 

William,  a  second  son  of  George  and  Ann  Allen,  became 
a  prominent  lawyer.  He  belonged  to  the  Fourth  Texas 
Regiment  and  was  killed  in  the  charge  on  Porter,  second 
day's  fight  below  Richmond. 

Washington,  a  third  son,  was  sheriff  of  his  county  in 
Texas  after  the  war  of  1861. 

The  Allen  daughters  were :  Leticia,  a  teacher,  Nancy, 
Hannah,  Mary,  Cornelia.     All  married  in  Texas. 


CHAPTER  XVIIL 


JUDGE   JESSE   TURNER. 
(By  his  wife,  Mrs.  Rebecca  A.  Turner.) 

The  near  ancestors  of  the  subject  of  this  sketch  were  of 
Scotch-Irish  stock.  James  Turner,  the  paternal  grand- 
father, and  William  Clendenen,  the  maternal  grandfather, 
were  natives  of  County  Down,  Ireland,  from  whence  they 
imigrated  to  Lancaster  county,  Pennsylvania,  about  1750. 
From  Pennsylvannia,  James  Turner  moved  to  Orange 
county,  North  Carolina,  about  1755,  and  William  Clen- 
denen about  1758,  where  James  Turner,  the  father,  and 
Rebecca  Clendenen,  the  mother,  of  him  of  whom  we  write, 
were  born,  the  former  about  1758,  and  the  later  about  1767. 

That  this  ancestry  retained  its  Whig  proclivities  is  evi- 
dent ;  for  we  find  that  they  were  active  in  that  early  protest 
against  the  exactions  and  oppressions  of  lawyers  and  other 
court  officials  which  culminated  in  the  war  of  the  Regula- 
tion ;  and  that  these  same  ancestors  subsequently,  in  the 
war  of  the  Revolution,  stood  to  a  man  on  the  side  of  the 
Colonists.  A  maternal  uncle  was  Captain  Clendenen. 
The  rest  were  soldiers  of  the  line. 

With  the  inherited  vantage  of  the  blood  of  patriots  in 
his  veins,  soon  after  the  opening  of  the  present  century,  in 
a  homestead  granted  his  father  for  services  rendered  in  the 
war,  surrounded  by  the  beautiful  hills  and  clear  running 
brooks  of  Old  Orange,  Jesse  Turner  first  saw  the  light. 

He  was  reared  among  a  people,  honest,  sturdy  and  true ; 
and  into  his  eager  ears  were  told  from  grandsire  and  sire 
stirring  tales  of  the  struggle  for  independence  and  of  prison 
life  in  the  British  hulks  which  lay  in  Charleston  harbor. 
In  an  old  field  school  house,  with  Daniel  C.  Turrentine  as 
master,  (blessed  be  his  memory  and  that  of  all  his  craft ! ) 
young  Jesse's  first  education  was  obtained.     That  the  pupil 


THE    HISTORY    OF     ALAMANCE.  157 

thirsted  for  knowledge  is  certain,  for  the  well  authenticat- 
ed tradition  is  still  extant  that  it  was  his  wont  to  sit,  book 
in  hand,  by  the  great  log  fire  during  the  long  winter  even- 
ings, and  that  often  when  dawn  summoned  the  household 
to  their  daily  tasks,  the  tired  little  student  still  sat  in  his 
chair. 

At  an  early  age  he  left  the  farm  and  commenced  the 
study  of  law  at  Chapel  Hill,  under  William  McCauley. 
Subsequently,  he  became  a  member  of  the  household  of 
Archibald  D.  Murphey,  of  the  Superior  Court  of  North 
Carolina.  Under  his  tutelage  he  continued  his  legal 
studies,  and,  at  the  age  of  nineteen,  was  admitted  to  prac- 
tice in  his  court,  receiving  at  the  same  time  words  of  high 
commendation  from  the  great  judge.  These  words  were 
never  forgotten,  but  were  referred  to  with  deep  feeling 
where,  after  the  lapse  of  more  than  two  generations,  age 
has  laid  its  hand  on  the  recipient. 

And  now  commenced  an  active  career  at  the  bar  which, 
in  duration,  stands  almost  unexampled.  The  times  were, 
in  some  respects,  propitious  for  the  great  venture,  for  he 
entered  the  practice  at  a  time  when  a  very  high  estimate 
was  placed  on  the  integrity  and  influence  of  the  legal  pro- 
fession, and  he  was  fortunate  in  selecting  at  the  threshold 
of  his  career,  as  models  for  guidance  and  emulation,  such 
men  as  Murphey,  Mangum,  Nash,  Cameron,  Gaston  and 
Graham. 

At  this  time,  too,  was  commenced  a  course  of  reading, 
which  widened  with  the  years — a  course  which  was  never 
wholly  abandoned.  Then  was  laid  the  foundations  on 
which  was  subsequently  reared  a  singularly  solid  and  mas- 
sive knowledge  of  English  history  and  of  English  litera- 
ture, of  American  history  and  American  literature.  He 
became  intimately  familiar  with  the  great  masters  of 
parliamentary  eloquence — Chatham,  Burke,  Sheridan  and 
Fox,  and  with  those  equally  great  masters  of  forensic  elo- 
quence, Erskine  and  Curran.     He  also  acquired  a  remark- 


158  THE    HISTORY   OF    ALAMANCE. 

ably  accurate  knowledge  of  the  temper  and  tenets  of  politi- 
cal parties,  and  of  all  the  nice  shadings  of  opinion  held  by 
all  the  statesmen  of  every  period  in  our  country's  history. 

In  1827  he  removed  to  Asheboro,  Wayne  county,  where 
he  remained  until  April,  1830.  That  he  had  already  reach- 
ed some  prominence  in  his  profession,  appears  from  the 
fact  that,  at  this  period,  he  was  intrusted  with  the  defence 
of  an  action  against  the  sheriff  of  the  county  for  a  false 
return. 

In  1830  he  left  his  native  State,  never  to  return,  except 
on  occassional  visits,  and  went  to  Bellefonte,  Jackson 
county,  Alabama,  where  he  remained  but  a  few  months. 
From  Alabama  he  moved  in  1831  to  Arkansas.  In  that 
year  he  located  in  Crawford  county  ard  in  1838,  at  Van 
Buren,  its  county-seat,  where  he  resided  continuously  until 
his  death. 

Arriving  in  Arkansas  in  territorial  days,  he  came  in  con- 
tact with  the  leading  spirits  who  paved  the  way  to  state- 
hood and  was  elected  a  member  of  the  second  Legislature. 
Among  the  eminent  men  who  were  on  the  stage  of  action 
at  this  time,  some  of  whom  were,  like  himself,  ardent  Whigs, 
and  some  of  whom  were  not  less  ardent  Democrats,  but 
with  all  of  whom  he  mingled  in  amity,  were  Robert  Crit- 
tenden, (a  younger  brother  of  John  J.  Crittenden),  Ambrose 
Sevier  and  Chester  Ashley,  afterwards  United  States  Sena- 
tor from  Arkansas,  Judges  Benjamin  Johnson  and  Andrew 
Scott,  James  Woodson  Bates,  Daniel  Ringo,  William  Cum- 
mins, Absolem  Fowler,  David  Walker  and  Albert  Pike. 

In  1840  he  was  elected  president  of  the  Young  Men's 
Whig  Convention,  which  convened  at  Little  Rock,  and  until 
that  great  party  ceased  to  exist  he  remained  through  all  its 
vicisitudes  its  staunch  and  able  defender.  "  He  helped  to 
rock  it  in  its  cradle  and  was  a  sincere  mourner  at  its 
funeral."  But  while  he  was  an  active  partisan  in  those 
days,  he  always  had  an  utter  abhorance  of  the  place  seeker; 
as  is  somewhat  humorously  illustrated  by  an  incident  in 


THE    HISTORY   OF    ALAMANCE.  1 59 

his  career.  We  are  told  that  he  journeyed  to  Washington 
and  while  there  called  at  the  White  House.  Something 
was  said  to  him  by  President  Tyler  about  an  office  which, 
it  was  taken  for  granted,  he  was  seeking.  Rising  quickly, 
he  said  to  the  President:  "Office,  sir?  I  want  no  office;  I 
came  to  pay  my  respects  to  the  President  of  the  United 
States." 

In  1 84 1  he  was  appointed  a  visitor  to  the  United  States 
Military  Academy  at  West  Point. 

When  the  United  States  Court  for  the  Western  Dis-trict 
of  Arkansas  was  created,  Mr.  Turner  was  appointed  by 
President  Filmore  its  first  attorney.  This  honor  came,  as 
did  every  other  honor  during  his  long  career,  unsought.  The 
Court  for  the  Western  District  had  a  vast  jurisdiction  over 
the  Indian  Territory;  a  jurisdiction  which  has  since  made 
this  court  the  greatest  criminal  tribunal  in  the  land.  The 
responsible  office  of  District  Attorney  he  filled  acceptably 
until  his  term  expired  with  the  close  of  the  Filmore  ad- 
ministration. 

But  Mr.  Turner's  energies  were  not  all  expended  in  stren- 
uous contentions  in  the  forum  and  on  the  hustings.  He 
was  ever  keenly  alive  to  all  which  tended  to  advance  the 
material  interests  of  his  country.  Accordingly  he  was  al- 
ways found  among  the  foremost  advocates  of  every  public 
improvement. 

Early  in  the  history  of  the  organization  of  the  first  rail- 
way entering  Arkansas,  he  was  chosen  one  of  its  directors, 
and  from  1857  to  1868  was  its  president.  He  preserved 
intact  the  interests  of  the  projected  road  through  the  troub- 
lous war  periods  and  lived  to  see  the  completion  of  a  great 
steel  highway  along  the  Valley  of  the  Arkansas — a  high- 
way which,  after  his  death,  remains  a  monument  to  his 
memory  and  that  of  his  associates. 

During  the  agitation  which  lead  up  to  secession  Mr.  Tur- 
ner was  a  strong  advocate  for  the  maintenance  of  the  Union 
of  States,  and  exerted  all  his  influence  and  powers  for  its 


l6o  THE    HISTORY    OF     ALAMANCE. 

preservation.  He  believed  with  Madison  and  others  of  the 
Fathers,  that  the  United  States  was  federative  rather  than 
national  in  its  origin  and  character.  He  held,  also,  that 
the  United  States  was  a  nation  with  the  inherent  power  of 
self  preservation,  and  he  never  believed  that  secession  or 
nullification  were  recognized  undei  the  Constitution  as 
remedies  for  political  wrongs,  real  or  imaginary. 

He  was  a  member  of  the  State  convention  of  February, 
1861,  which  voted  down  the  ordinance  of  secession  and 
which  then  adjourned  to  meet  in  the  following  May.  In 
the  interim  hostilities  commenced,  the  sentiments  of  the 
people  changed,  and  Mr.  Turner,  in  compliance  with  the 
instructions  of  his  constituents,  reluctantly  cast  his  vote 
for  the  ordinance.  He  took  no  part  whatever  in  the  con- 
flict which  followed,  acting  only  the  part  of  a  Good  Samari- 
tan to  all  as  occasion  came. 

On  the  emergence  of  the  State  from  military  to  civil  rule, 
he  became  a  member  and  a  leader  of  the  first  Legislature. 
With  the  whole  political  face  of  things  changed,  it  required 
a  wise  study  and  discernment  to  bring  order  out  of  chaos. 
As  chairman  of  the  Judiciary  Committee  of  the  Senate 
came  to  the  mind,  heart  and  hand  of  Jesse  Turner  serious 
and  responsible  work. 

He  was  unalterably  opposed  to  the  scheme  of  reconstruc- 
tion, not  only  because  he  deemed  it  harsh  and  impolitic, 
but  lacking  in  constitutional  statesmanship  as  well. 

After  the  State  government,  intrenched  in  power  during 
the  days  of  reconstruction,  had  been  overthrown,  and  the 
people  had  come  to  their  own,  and  the  constitution  of  1874 
was  framed,  Mr.  Turner  became  a  member  of  the  first  Leg- 
islature, and  he  was  again  chairman  of  the  Senate  Judiciary 
Committee,  and  strove  with  signal  ability  in  overcoming 
the  obstacles  presented  by  an  empty  treasury  and  a  State 
without  credit. 

He  was  a  delegate-at-large  from  Arkansas  to  the  National 
Democratic  Convention  of  1876  and  cast  his  vote  for  Sam- 


THE    HISTORY    OF    ALAMANCE.  l6l 

uel  J.  Tilden.  He  always  referred  to  this  vote  with  min- 
gled pride  and  indignation,  for  he  believed  that  Mr.  Tilden 
had  been  unjustly  deprived  of  the  Presidency. 

In  1878  he  was  appointed  to  fill  the  unexpired  term  of 
Judge  Walker  on  the  Supreme  Bench  of  Arkansas,  and  was 
afterwards,  at  various  times  appointed  Special  Judge  in 
important  cases  in  that  court.  His  judicial  opinions  are 
found  in  Volumes  32,  33,  34  and  35,  Arkansas  Reports. 

In  the  last  decade  of  his  life  he  sat  largely  behind  the 
stage  of  action,  but  remained  to  the  last  an  interested  spec- 
tator of  the  drama,  and  he  never  lost  his  touch  on  the  vital 
public  interests  As  late  as  1893  he  worked  hard  and  ef- 
fectively for  the  representation  of  Arkansas  at  the  World's 
Columbian  Exposition.  He  attended  the  great  fair,  and 
during  his  extended  stay,  with  loving  filial  step,  he  daily 
went  to  the  exhibit  of  the  Old  North  State,  taking  pardon- 
able pride  on  the  fact  that  the  official  register  showed  him 
to  be  the  oldest  person  in  attendance.  It  is  safe  to  say  that 
few  in  all  that  vast  concourse  saw  with  as  clear  a  vision  the 
splendid  significance  of  the  great  display. 

On  his  return  from  Chicago  his  days  passed  in  the  regu- 
lar routine  of  his  professional  duties,  lightened  by  a  part- 
nership with  his  only  son.  On  the  very  last  day  of  his  life 
he  was  still  the  practicing  lawyer.  On  the  evening  of  that 
day,  while  in  attendance  at  a  public  lecture  given  for  a 
public  benefaction,  the  summons  to  immortality  came  with 
sudden,  painless  touch,  and  from  among  the  congregated 
people — his  friends  and  neighbors — he  passed  out  forever. 

As  a  lawyer,  Judge  Turner  never  enlisted  in  a  cause  that 
did  not  seem  to  have  justice  on  its  side.  He  was  always 
conscientious  and  thorough  in  the  preparation  of  his  cases, 
and,  eschewing  mere  technicalities,  drove  straight  to  the 
heart  of  the  question,  relying  more  largely  for  success  on 
an  accurate  application  of  general  principles  to  the  question 
presented  for  solution  than  in  the  mere  citation  of  adjudi- 
cated cases. 
11 


l62  THE    HISTORY    OF    ALAMANCE. 

As  a  public  speaker,  he  was  always  earnest,  sincere  and 
incisive — often  weighty  and  impressive.  In  conversation, 
he  drew  at  will  on  a  vast  store  of  learning  and  reminiscence 
expressei  in  quaint,  racy  and  idiomatic  language.  In  hab- 
its, he  was  temperate.  In  his  opinions,  he  was  moderate, 
but  firm,  and  only  yielded  them  to  conviction.  In  temper- 
ament, he  was  ardent,  with  a  deep  under-current  of  feeling 
stirring  his  nature ;  but  he  possessed  an  inherent  dignity 
which  saved  him  from  being  loudly  demonstrative.  He 
was  full  of  charity  and  benevolence,  and  in  his  religious 
views  he  was  liberal,  believing  in  the  law  of  compensation, 
in  rewards  and  punishments,  and  that  our  status  in  the  life 
to  come  is  determined  by  our  conduct  in  this  life. 

Perhaps  there  is  no  better  epitome  of  his  life  and  char- 
acter than  is  contained  in  the  lines  carved  on  his  tomb  : 

"  In  loving  memory  of  Jesse  Turner.  A  native 
of  Orange  County,  North  Carolina,  but  during, 
and  ever  since  territorial  days,  a  resident  of  Ar- 
kansas, where,  at  the  bar  and  in  public  life,  for 
more  than  sixty  years,  he  stood  a  foremost  citizen; 
and  when  he  went  hence,  death  left  his  name 
without  reproach. 

October  3,  1805 November  22,  1894. 

"His  hope  was  full  of  immortality." 


CHAPTER  XIX. 


NAMES. 


Surname  is  an  additional  name  frequently  descriptive, 
as  in 'Harold  Harefoot ;  specifically,  a  name  added  to  the 
baptismal  or  Christian  name  and  becoming  a  family  name. 
English  surnames  originally  designated  occupations,  estate, 
place  of  jesidence,  or  some  particular  thing  or  event  that 
related  to  the  person.  Surnames  as  family  names  were 
unknown  before  the  middle  of  the  eleventh  century,  except 
in  rare  cases  where  a  family  "  established  a  fund  for  the 
deliverance  of  souls  of  certain  ancestors  from  purgatory." 
[Ency.  Brit.]  The  use  of  surnames  made  slow  progress 
and  was  not  entirely  established  till  after  the  thirteenth 
century. 

A  "to-name"  is  a  name  in  addition  to  the  Christian 
name  and  surname  of  a  person  to  distinguish  him  from  oth- 
ers of  the  same  name,  and  usually  indicating  descent,  place 
of  residence  or  some  personal  quality  or  attribute.  Such  to- 
mmies are  often  emp  oyed  where  the  same  families  inter- 
marry and  where,  consequently,  the  same  name  is  common 
to  many  individuals.  The  possession  of  a  surname,  a  to- 
name,  a  name  in  addition  to  the  Christian  name,  had  be- 
gun in  the  twelfth  century  to  be  looked  on  as  a  needful 
badge  of  noble  birth. 

Names — whether  belonging  to  individuals  or  places — 
are  not  mere  arbitrary  sounds.  They  may  be  regarded  as 
records  of  the  past — mines  for  research  and  historical  inter- 
pretation. In  many  instances  the  original  import  of  such 
names  has  faded  away,  or  has  become  disguised  in  the  lapse 
of  ages  ;  but  the  symbol  when  discovered  is  full — fraught 
with  instruction.  Names  may  indicate  emigrations,  immi- 
grations, the  commingling  of  races  by  war  and  conquest,  or 
by  peaceful  process  of  commerce.     Names  embalm  for  us 


164  THE    HISTORY    OF     ALAMANCE. 

fashions  of  speech  in  remote  eras.  A  name  is  a  living 
thing,  magical,  enduring,  conjuring  up  the  past  and  de- 
termining the  future. 

The  name  of  Holstein  means  the  Forest  settlement,  once 
a  vast  forest  which  supplied  a  portion  of  the  Angels  with 
the  materials  for  the  fleets  with  which  they  invaded  the 
shores  of  England.  The  bare  heaths  to  the  southwest  of 
London  seem  to  have  been  at  one  time  partially  clothed 
with  forest.  This  is  indicated  by  the  root,  holt  (German 
holz)  which  is  to  be  found  in  the  names  of  Bagshot,  Bads- 
liot,  Ewshot,  Lodshot,  Bramshot,  Aldersholt  and  Holt. 
Holt  meant  a  coppice  or  small  thicket ;  its  companion  word 
is  Hurst  which  meant  a  large  forest.  But  Holt,  Hurst,  Hirst 
and  Wood  were  originally  the  same.  Chaucer  speaks  of 
*  holtes  and  hayes.'  'De  la  Holt  is  of  frequent  occurrence  in 
early  records.  Holt  is  the  name  of  the  Jesuit  Priest  in 
Thackery's  Henry  Esmond. 

Holz  is  German,  Holt  is  Anglo-Saxon;  Weald,  Wold  and 
wood  are  English  ;  Wald  is  German  ;  all  mean  wood  or 
forest. 

Shaw  is  an  English  name  meaning  wood,  a  shady  place, 
its  Anglo  Saxon  form  is  sceaga. 

Caer,  Car,  are  Welsh  names ;  Ker  is  Brezonec ;  all  rela- 
ted to  castra,  a  camp  or  to  cathair,  a  fortress.  So  Kirk 
meant  church  ;  Kirkpatrick  meant  a  churchbird  ;  patrick 
bring  a  derivative  for  partridge,  a  church  partridge.  Trol- 
linger  was  once  Strolinger,  the  man  who  strolled  or  wan 
dered.  It  is  German  like  Barringer.  Hall,  Anglo  Saxon, 
is  stone  house.  Worth,  Anglo  Saxon  is  inclosure.  Henly 
meant  one  who  stays  at  home,  hen  being  home.  Guthrie, 
Keltic,  meant  a  roidway,  it  may  be  Scotch,  meaning  water. 
Overman  is  one  who  lived  on  the  shore.  Moore  is  Anglo 
Saxon  meaning  a  lake.  Lindley  is  Keltic  meaning  one 
who  lived  by  a  pool.  Goly  is  an  Asiatic  word  meaning  a 
river  god,  or  one  by  a  river.     Woody,  too,  means    water. 


THE    HISTORY    OF     ALAMANCE.  165 

Long,  or  lorg,  meant  a  plain.  Piekard  meant  a  promontory. 
Faust  or  Foust,  German,  means  lucky.  Isley  meant  water, 
one  who  lived  on  an  island.  Zachary  is  Jewish.  Shoffner 
meant  carpenter.  Hawkins,  Harkin  meant  son  of  Harry. 
Carroll  meant  Charles,  French.  Barnwell,  Dutch,  was 
once  Barnwelt.  Murray,  Moray,  Morrow,  Scotch  name  of 
a  place,  is  the  Sea.  Sharp  is  a  German  descriptive  name, 
sharpe.  Ingle  is  a  Scotch  name,  by  the  fireside,  hearth- 
stone. Mitchell,  Michael  is  Semitic  probably,  St.  Michael 
was  Lucifer's  opponent.  Kime,  German,  meant  home. 
Montgomery  is  French,  Mount  of  Gomery,  brought  over  by 
Normans  to  England.  Erwin,  Scotch,  was  name  of  a  river. 
Cates,  another  form  of  Gates,  one  who  lived  near  the 
gate,  a  narrow  passage.  Tate,  French,  means  head.  Ellis 
is  a  contraction  of  Elisha.  Hartsal  is  German,  a  forest, 
another  forest,  or  white,  like  the  Elbe  River  deer.  Stafford 
is  English,  a  riverford.  Mebane  if  Scotch  is  same  name  as 
McBane,  but  Mebane  may  be  Hugnenot.  Mc.  means  son 
of,  Bane  means  white,  son  of  a  white  man.  Amick  is  from 
the  Latin  amicus  a  friend.  Turner  is  English,  a  furniture 
maker,  turner  one  who  makes  wood  round,  chairs,  bed- 
posts, etc. 

Alamance  was  once  Allemance,  Alemanz,  Alamans,  Ale- 
manni.  I  think  it  is  German,  however,  it  may  be  Indian 
as  many  agree.  But  the  above  forms  have  been  found  to 
run  into  each  other. 

Alamans  or  Alemanni  was  the  name  of  a  German  race 
who  occupied  the  region  from  the  Main  to  the  Danube  in 
the  third  century.  That  territory  extended  later  to  the 
Rhine  and  included  Alsace  and  part  of  eastern  Switzerland. 

Then  Alamance  may  be  of  Old  High  German  origin,  its 
meaning,  "all  men,"  "men^of  Jill  nations."  The  country 
now  known  as  Alamance  county,  North  Carolina,  was  set- 
tled by  Germans  from  this  district  as  other  names  indicate, 
e.  g:,  Albright,  Foust,  Holt,  and  it  is  probable,  they,  not  the 
Indians,  named  the  creek  on  which  they  settled,  Alamance. 


l66  THE    HISTORY   OF     ALAMANCE. 

From  it  the  county  was  named  by  Mrs.  Giles  Mebane  in 
1848. 

It  is  certain  that  Alamance  was  settled  by  Germans  but 
I  am  not  certain  that  they  came  from  the  old  Alemanni. 
But  the  Albrights  came  from  the  river  Rhine.  That  is 
family  history. 

The  name  Albright  is  German,  its  first  form  being  Al- 
bert, Albrecht,  Allbreght,  then  Albright.  Tn  1 100  there 
lived  in  Germany  an  Albright  surname  to  "  Bear  "  others 
later  surnamed  the  "Tall,"  and  the  ''Proud."  One  was 
elector  of  Brandenburg  in  n 50,  another,  Duke  of  Austria, 
others  the  founders  of  the  house  of  Mechlenburg,  King  of 
Sweden.  The  first  duke  of  Prussia  was  named  Albrecht, 
1568.  An  Albrecht  was  archbishop  of  Magdeburg  in  1513, 
archbishop  and  elector  of  Mains  in  15 14,  and  cardinal  in 
1518.  To  him  was  entrusted  the  sale  of  indulgences  in  the 
district  of  Germany,  and  Tetzel,  Luther's  antagonist,  acted 
as  his  commissioner.  Colonel  Albright,  who  fought  with 
President  Kruger  in  South  Africa,  is  now  a  prisoner  of  war 
at  St.  Helena. 


FINIS. 


i_ 


